PyeongChang (RWH) At the 63rd Conference of the International Luge Association (FIL) in PyeongChang, Korea, President Josef Fendt from Germany announced that the FIL’s comprehensive development programme would be further extended, with an enhanced focus on promotion in Asia. “We will revise parts of our development programme and implement them more effectively”, said Fendt in his speech in the future Olympic host city. It is hoped that this measure will help to counteract the recent decline in participation. “An increasingly significant portion of our development work must include Asia in future”, Fendt explained. With reference to the artificial ice track currently being built in PyeongChang for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Fendt stated that the FIL would be increasing its commitment to the region. “With the future Olympic track here in PyeongChang and the one that already exists in Nagano, we will soon have two artificial ice tracks on this continent, and we at the FIL see that both as an additional incentive and as a responsibility.” The FIL President announced that the 2016/2017 season would see not only what could be described as a test competition on the future Olympic track, but also a World Cup in Nagano. Fendt also elaborated on the joint efforts of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the FIL’s sister association IBSF (International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation), and the FIL itself to curb the costs of building tracks and to develop sustainability concepts for existing tracks. With regard to the financial situation, Fendt said: “This is the most positive financial report that the FIL has ever posted.”