Brutal blow: Spulber gets a red card in Engelberg and is ruled out of the German legs of the Four Hills

Romania’s Mihnea Alexandru Spulber has been handed a red card during Sunday’s qualification in Engelberg after failing equipment control for the second time this season. According to the article, the immediate reason was skis that were too long relative to his body weight.

The 2025–26 FIS rules specify that two equipment disqualifications trigger a red card, which automatically sidelines an athlete for the next two World Cup competitions. In Spulber’s case, that ban covers the German half of the 74th Four Hills Tournament — Oberstdorf and Garmisch‑Partenkirchen — a major setback for the 25‑year‑old and for Romania, which has limited depth to replace him.

Challenging wind and warmer conditions in Engelberg were noted, but the disqualification was for equipment non‑compliance. This is already the third red‑card case in the men’s World Cup this season; earlier, Kazakhstan’s Veronika Shyshkina, Turkey’s Fatih Arda Ipcioglu, and Italy’s Alex Insam were also sanctioned under the new framework.

The report cites a post from Skijumping.pl’s Adam Bucholz confirming the red card and the resulting exclusion from the next two starts.