Berchtesgaden (RWH) The President of the International Luge Federation (FIL), Josef Fendt from Berchtesgaden, fears that the sport of luge will be at a massive disadvantage if the 2022 FIFA World Cup is held in November and December as planned by the international governing body FIFA. “Moving the World Cup to this period would have a negative impact for us because of the resulting drop in what are otherwise always excellent TV ratings”, said Fendt, who has headed the FIL since 1994. As the sponsorship contracts are generally linked to broadcasting times, the sport might even suffer from a twofold disadvantage, Fendt continued. Fendt also criticised the lack of solidarity shown by FIFA with the winter sports associations, and stated that the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) led by Gian-Franco Kasper, the President of the International Ski Federation (FIS), had sent what might be termed a resolution to FIFA a year ago. “They didn’t even receive a response to their letter”, said Fendt. The luge season usually begins at the end of November and ends in March of the following year. There are an average of four luge World Cups before the Christmas break, and these events would have to fight for spectator interest if the FIFA World Cup were to be held at the same time. Luge broadcasts regularly achieve an audience rating of over 20 per cent in Germany. During the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the final race in the men’s singles broadcast by the German TV channel ZDF was watched by 9.22 million spectators and garnered a market share of 32.3%, the highest number recorded by any discipline broadcast on German television during the Olympics.