“We got hit on the head with a rake”: ISU recorded financial losses in connection with the removal of Russian skaters

ill effects

The removal of Russians from international competitions has hit many sports.

To a large extent, this also affected figure skating, which lost a number of stars and a large market.

A few months after the imposition of sanctions on domestic athletes, the International Skating Union (ISU), which includes figure skating, had to record the first losses.

The organization published a financial report in which it announced the reservation of 2.5 million Swiss francs (about € 2.6 million) to pay off losses from "crisis situations".

The ISU admitted that the ban on participation in the starts of Russian athletes led to a drop in income.

For example, the organization did not receive funds for the sale of media rights to the 2022 World Cup in the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the ISU assured that they have "limited business ties" with Russian counterparties, banks and service providers, and therefore do not suffer significant damage at the time of the approval of the financial statements (the document is dated April 27).

“The crisis reserve of 2.5 million Swiss francs is being maintained at its current level as a precautionary measure aimed at ensuring the necessary response to unpredictable events in the world, such as the difficulties associated with the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, which also causes to detrimental financial consequences for ISU in the form of a reduction in income from media rights in Russia, ”the report says.

The reserve was formed in 2019 and initially included more than 5 million Swiss francs, but at the end of 2021, about half remained in it - part of the amount was spent on overcoming the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is possible that these funds will be exhausted as quickly as possible.

In addition to the risk factors mentioned, the ISU expects the uncertainties around Beijing Olympic revenue to have a negative impact on the budget.

The organization believes that they will receive less from the IOC than expected.

Multi-million dollar losses

At the same time, the ISU did not hide not the best financial situation before.

The management of the organization at the June congress predicted losses for the period 2022-2024 in the amount of almost 23 million Swiss francs.

At the same time, losses for 2018-2022 amounted to 3 million Swiss francs.

Only 2019 brought profit - about €2 million. But in the pandemic 2020, the organization suffered serious losses - €4.65 million. To cover some of them, it is planned to sell the building in Davos, where the ISU headquarters were previously located.

The deal could be worth €1.27 million.

Based on these data, the removal of domestic skaters has caused and will still deal an additional blow to the well-being of the ISU.

In this regard, another report of the organization was very indicative - on the work of its own Internet sites in the 2020/21 season.

In it, the Russians are mentioned in several aspects at once.

So, the video with the rental of Alexandra Trusova at Skate Canada-2019, where she set world records in the free program and in terms of total points, collected 2.8 million views only on the ISU YouTube channel.

If you take all the platforms, her indicative number from that tournament has collected 35 million views.

This is by far the best result.

Also, the Queen of Quads, along with Alena Kostornaya, entered the top 4 most sought-after skaters on the planet.

They were accompanied by Yuzuru Hanyu and Nathan Chen.

At the same time, Russia unexpectedly did not get into the top two markets for this sport for ISU (USA - 18% and Japan - 11%) and leaders in terms of views on the organization's YouTube channel (Japan - 1.6 million, Ukraine - 1 million).

One way or another, domestic fans also have a serious impact on figure skating.

For example, the organization emphasized that due to the growing interest in junior competitions in the country, it was possible to sign a favorable agreement with a TV partner from Russia.

The ISU noted with regret that "the development of new business opportunities with Russian broadcasters" was suspended due to a special operation in Ukraine.

“If people turn on their brains, the lifting of sanctions is possible”

Russia is confident that the imposition of sanctions has dealt a serious financial blow to the ISU.

Three-time Olympic champion Irina Rodnina stressed that due to the removal of domestic figure skaters, the level of international competitions has seriously fallen.

Plus, ISU lost the ability to sell media rights to the country.

She was supported by world champion Maria Butyrskaya, who called the financial losses of the organization a natural outcome.

“Everything that happened could have been easily foreseen, because the Russians are leaders in almost all disciplines.

I'm not talking about girls at all.

Anna Shcherbakova, Alexandra Trusova, Kamila Valieva - people want to root for them and pay a lot of money for tickets.

We must not forget about the broadcasts that our country no longer buys.

I think others may also lose the desire to acquire them, since nobody is interested in following tournaments without the strongest skaters.

In fact, the whole view has lost its appeal.

ISU tried to annoy us, but only made it worse for itself, ”Butyrskaya complained.

The Olympic champion Tatyana Navka developed this idea.

According to her, the ISU is forced to pay for its own ill-conceived actions.

“I am not an expert in the field of finance, but it was obvious that the interest in figure skating in the world after the ban on Russians from participating in competitions would fall anyway.

I talked about this even when the ISU delivered its verdict.

Now they are forced to answer for mistakes.

The fact remains.

They confirmed that they are suffering losses due to their own actions.

Let's see how events will develop further.

We live in a very interesting time,” she stressed.

In turn, Olympic champion Maxim Maxaim Trankov asked a different question: if the world championship aroused at least some interest in the absence of Russians, then who will watch the European Championship, which will not come to his main favorites?

“When the ISU imposed sanctions on Russia, two things were immediately clear.

Firstly, figure skating is very popular in our country.

Secondly, domestic figure skaters have a huge fan base all over the planet.

It was naive to expect that their removal would go unnoticed.

I'm not talking about tournaments at all.

For example, I do not understand who will follow the European Championship.

Our guys regularly brought three or four gold medals from there.

Now, in almost all types of sports, the level will drop dramatically, and it’s not very clear whether such a competition can be sold at all, ”complained Maxaim Trankov.

At the same time, almost all experts are sure that the current situation will make the ISU think about lifting restrictions on Russians.

Otherwise, the organization will continue to incur losses.

“All federations have the right to make such decisions themselves, despite the recommendations of the IOC.

And we see exceptions to the rules, for example, in the face of judoists.

ISU also has the right to show independence, ”Rodnina emphasized.

Navka also expressed confidence that no one bothers the organization to take such a step and cited FIDE as another positive example.

“Chess players have not been suspended, and they continue to play, albeit in a neutral status.

It all depends on the specific organization.

If people turn on the brain, the lifting of sanctions is possible.

The saddest thing is to realize that sport has never been so closely mixed with politics before.

There is chaos, ”said the Olympic champion.

Butyrskaya also believes that a sharp decline in income will force the ISU to draw serious conclusions.

“Skaters work and plow throughout their careers to be admired, and not removed for far-fetched reasons.

ISU needed to get hit on the head with a rake once in order to realize that figure skating is indispensable without Russians.

And if he wants to earn some money, they need to be returned immediately, ”summed up the world champion.

But Maxaim Trankov, on the contrary, does not believe that this story will force the organization to change its policy towards Russia.

According to the expert, domestic athletes are unlikely to return to international competitions in the near future, contrary to some optimistic forecasts.