Sven Hannawald on WM Scandal: "An Absolute Tragedy, an Absolute Farce!"

Hannawald laments 'absolute farce'

Sven Hannawald views the WM scandal in Trondheim as a debacle for ski jumping - the former German athlete advocates for a revolution in regulations.

Hannawald sees the WM scandal involving Norwegian jumpers as a major blow to ski jumping, urging significant changes to existing rules.

In the WM scandal involving Norwegian ski jumpers, many questions remain unanswered. However, for TV expert Hannawald, it's clear that the tumultuous events of that Saturday cast a long shadow over the sport.

In response to whether this was a dark day for ski jumping, Hannawald replied on ARD: "If there were a color darker than black, I would choose that. It is an absolute tragedy, an absolute farce."

In the individual competition on the large hill, the Norwegians Marius Lindvik (who originally won silver), Johann André Forfang, and Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal were disqualified. The world governing body cited "manipulation of suits" as the reason for the decision.

Hannawald proposes a revolution in rules

The Scandinavian athletes are suspected of altering their suits after official measurement - which is not permitted. Several nations had filed protests after incriminating videos surfaced.

The footage showed the Norwegians apparently sewing on their suits in their team hotel. The Norwegian team admitted errors but denied any intentional fraud attempt, claiming that the sewing was for the upcoming home World Cup in Oslo.

Former Four Hills Tournament winner Hannawald suggested during the scandal that a complete overhaul of the rules might be necessary.

"Perhaps the monitoring of suits should be handed over to a machine as quickly as possible. Just as there is a scanner, perhaps a computer program could control it. The computer wouldn't care if it's two millimeters," he explained.

Whether and what consequences the manipulation allegations will ultimately have remains completely open.