European Ski Orienteering Championships 2020 in Russia

European Ski Orienteering Championships 2020 in Russia

The IOF Council has appointed Russia as organiser of the European Ski Orienteering Championships 2020.

The European Ski Orienteering Championships 2020 will be held in Vershina Tei in central Russia. The proposed dates are in the middle of March 2020. The championships will include Sprint, Middle Distance, Mixed Sprint Relay, Long Distance and Relay. The venue has not been used for any major IOF events but for national championships in Ski Orienteering in 2014 and 2017.

There have been difficulties in finding organisers for major events in Ski Orienteering and 2020 is no exception; Russia was the only bidder for ESOC 2020.

The World Anti-Doping Code states that international federations should “do everything possible to award World Championships only to countries where the National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee and National Anti-Doping Organization are in compliance with the Code” (Code article 20.3.11).

The IOF has been in contact with WADA for guidance on how to comply with the wording above. The WADA legal department has clarified that: “The IOF should do everything possible to award the event to another country which is compliant. If you have no possibility to get another bid from another country and you can demonstrate that you did all you could but cannot get another bid, then you may award the event to Russia.”

Based on that, and the difficulty in finding alternative candidates, the IOF Council decided to appoint Russia as organiser of ESOC 2020. In connection with the decision the Council also decided to begin the new program, with World Ski Orienteering Championships every year, from 2021.

Future World and European Championships in Ski Orienteering

2019
European Ski Orienteering Championships Turkey
World Ski Orienteering Championships Sweden

2020
European Ski Orienteering Championships Russia

2021
World Ski Orienteering Championships No applications

There are no applications for either Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships 2020, European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships 2020, World Masters Ski Orienteering Championships 2020 or the World Cup in Ski Orienteering 2020.