It was at the beginning of June that an external investigation, commissioned by the Swedish Figure Skating Association, showed that there were irregularities in the sport.

This is mainly due to a widespread culture of silence and authoritarian leadership.

The investigation showed, among other things, that coaches exposed skiers to emotional abuse and weight loss.

After that, the Swedish Sports Confederation demanded that the figure skating association should draw up an action plan for how the association should deal with these problems, otherwise the association risked losing its contributions from RF.

An action plan, prepared by representatives from, among others, the board, skiers and coaches, has now been submitted to RF.

Two areas are prioritized

According to the action plan, eight problems have been identified based on the results of the external investigation:

  • Clear indications of serious and extensive misconduct.

  • Structural and organizational problems at all levels.

  • Widespread culture of silence.

  • Children and adolescents report emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

  • Indications that children and young people are normalized to environments that would not be accepted in any other context.

  • Presence of negative comments related to food, eating and weight.

  • High incidence of injuries and problems related to menstrual disorders.

  • Early specialization, high training intensity at an early age and lack of opportunity for recovery and rest.

Two areas must be prioritized for direct measures: Safe sports and collaboration and transparency.

- We must work out all types of malpractice, regardless of who is affected by this.

I would like to see that a priority will be to implement the action plan that was developed before the annual meeting, said the figure skating association's new chairman Helena Rosén Andersson to SVT Sport after the association meeting last Saturday.

According to the action plan, the rider's needs are at the center and the measures must above all contribute to a better activity for those active in the sport.

Increased demand for coaches

One measure is to clarify case management and the application of sanctions for everyone in Swedish figure skating.

In this way, knowledge and preparedness will increase when it comes to handling cases concerning malpractice and other violations of values ​​and code of conduct.

The union must also produce a safety survey to be able to follow up how the work is going.

The purpose of the safety survey is to shed light on how the active people experience safety in the sports environment.

Active people should also learn more about how they can get help and support inside and outside the organization.

The action plan also contains guidelines on healthy leadership.

The requirement that all coaches must work according to the values ​​must increase and the coaches must also have a greater opportunity for training in areas that concern other than knowledge of figure skating.

The action plan was approved by the members at the union meeting last Saturday and is available in its entirety here.

The action plan has been sent to RF, which will review and approve it.

Turbulent union meeting

Saturday's union meeting was turbulent.

Katarina Henriksson was elected chairman after the members came to the conclusion that she was not eligible for election.

The background to this is compensation that Henriksson, who was chairman between 2012 and 2020, received for assignments she received from her board in the union.

The union's statutes state that you may not be an employee and at the same time sit on the board, but board minutes between 2016 and 2019 show that Henriksson was paid for assignments.

Between July 2018 and June 2020, Henriksson received more than one million kronor for assignments within the Swedish Figure Skating Association, which the members thought could be equated with being employees.