"People are being misled. A great injustice is being done to me. I'm dealing with it because I care about what people think of me. It's an absolute shame. Most of all I'm sorry for the people that have to watch and listen to all this. I'm sorry that they have to listen to things for which we thought were already done with," said Maze from Val Gardena for TV Slovenija.
The head of her ski team Andrea Massi labeled the statements made by the SZS as manipulative. "I did not demand anything, Tina even less so. My proposal was sent in confidence to Mr. Joško Križan, the head of the Slovenian Ski Association. We did negotiate and what came out of it was this press release which manipulates with figures and above all casts bad light on Tina Maze, which had absolutely nothing to do with this," is what Massi told TV Slovenija.
A sharp Terpin
Previously, at a press-conference in Gorica, Maze's lawyer Damijan Terpin was highly critical towards the SZS claims. Terpin said the ski association's move jeopardizes the farewell race of Slovenia's most successful skier, which is scheduled for the 7th of January in Maribor.
SZS smearing Maze's reputation and good name
"After the talks I had I can say that at this moment Tina Maze does not even feel capable of waving to crowds at the Golden Fox. Not after everything that has happened and to have to listen to such false statements made about her just a couple of weeks before the race ... The SZS press release includes a series of false claims, which smear Maze's reputation and good name. The ski association has now destroyed the festivity being prepared for the 7th of January in Maribor, for the farewell race of Slovenia's biggest female athlete and with no doubt the biggest skier ever. I don't know why the SZS opted for such a move, which is foolish, indecent and absurd," continued to say Terpin.
Tina angry and disappointed
"Maze is angry and disappointed because it hurts athletes to have to work and suffer and then be attacked. We demand an apology for the damage done to her reputation. But considering everything that has happened, legal action will also be necessary. Tina Maze is not only a Slovenian but a world phenomenon. This issue has now circled the globe and Maze has been presented by the SZS as a person who is only interested in money. The moral damage cannot be undone, but the material damage amounts to over 100.000 euros. We no longer plan to be the targets of small people, which stand behind these attacks," explained Terpin.
Presenting the chronology of events leading to this boiling point, Maze's legal representative also highlighted the letter sent by Maze's life partner and head of Maze's ski team Andrea Massi, to the head of the Ski Association of Slovenia Joško Križan on the evening of the 30th of November. According to Terpin it was never written in the letter that Maze did not intend to wear the outfit of Slovenia's national ski team if she was not compensated.
