Eurosport: We Will Not Boycott Snow Queen

Helen Scott-Smith does not write articles, but only collects information for reporters, said Patrick Lang.

The alleged reporter of Eurosport, Helen Scott-Smith, raised an alarm which found its was quickly to the Croatian Ski Committee and the Olympic Committee Alliance, who denied everything the said “reported” had said. 

Scott-Smith said, among other things: - I have to share my frustrations with you, a glass of champagne will not solve everything. A year ago, I told you that reporters did not have conditions at the finishing line. We can`t see the score board, people who are not reporters move next to us and we can`t do our job.

- If nothing changes next year, Sljeme will not be broadcast in Europe. I realise the FIS (Federation Internationale de Ski) don`t care about reporters, but if you organised the entire event, you could have seen to reporters who actually mean something in the World Cup – Scott-Smith explained, pointing out that conditions in Japan were better than in Zagreb.

Read more about her statements in the article Eurosport Threatens To Boycott Snow Queen Trophy.

- She is not working for Eurosport, she is a freelancer who arrived here to report for the Paris office. I am acquainted with her criticisms, but they are unjustified and unfounded – the director of the Croatian Ski Committee, Vedran Pavlek said, visibly perturbed by the fact that one person with whom he had never spoken a word to is trying to cause a scandal.

Pavlek said that the same person also caused problems last year in Zagreb, adding that Zagreb was not the only place where she has done the same. They have also had problems with her at other skiing tracks, which was confirmed by one of the most influential person on the skiing world, Patrick Lang, press representative within the Alpine World Cup Committee and son of the founder of the circuit Serge Lang.

She has been causing trouble for the past 20 years. True reporters who cover the skiing know of her and of her very strange behaviour. What she slammed is unrealistic and untrue. First of all, she cannot speak in the name of Eurosport because she does not represent Eurosport. She works for them as s researcher. She does not write articles, but only gathers information for those who do actual reporting and true ski reporters do not consider her a reporter at all, Lang said.

He said that he cannot even imagine Eurosport even considering boycotting the Snow Queen tournament in Zagreb because that would be ludicrous and without any justification.

As vice-president of the World Organisation of Reporters that cover the skiing, I apologise to the organisers for the problems this so-called reporter is causing them. They are doing a great job and securing us the best possible working conditions with which I am personally exceptionally satisfied, Lang stressed.

Eurosport has no plans to boycott the Snow Queen. It would make no sense and the allegations are completely untrue, said a statement signed by Michelle Giblert, chief of Eurosport’s public relations.