“Everything revolves around politics”: ISU refused to host the Grand Prix stage in Russia in the 2023/24 season

“Russia is great at holding competitions”

Domestic fans of figure skating may not hope to hold international competitions in the country next season.

This decision was made at a meeting of the ISU Council.

The Skating Union recalled that the restrictions imposed by the Congress of the organization continue to apply to the Russian Federation, which prohibit this.

“The Council has taken note of the requirements contained in Communiqué No. 2469 and confirmed during the 2022 ISU Congress, which include in particular… provision 2.b), which states that “Until further notice, there will be no no international competitions, ”the official statement says.

In Russia, this verdict was treated calmly, albeit with regret.

In particular, the Director General of the FFKKR Alexander Kogan emphasized that the country would have organized a magnificent Grand Prix stage if it had been entrusted with it.

"It's a pity.

Because Russia perfectly knows how to hold competitions.

And many would be interested and useful to see how it goes.

Or maybe learn, ”the TASS functionary quotes.

In doing so, the ISU has indeed encountered great difficulties in this regard.

Due to the difficult financial situation in the world, few are willing to spend money on major international launches.

For example, France refused to organize the Grand Prix final in Orleans in December 2023, although the country received this right back in October 2021.

Given the ban on holding the Grand Prix stage in Russia in November, ISU is forced to hastily look for hosts for two major starts at once.

Things are no better with other competitions.

It is still not clear where the 2024 and 2025 World Junior Championships will take place.

As for the first, the union complained that a little more than a year before its start, they did not receive a single application.

The federation was forced to extend the deadline for submitting documents until February 24.

But the junior championship of the planet-2026 will be held in Estonian Tallinn.

Domestic figure skaters were suspended from all competitions under the auspices of the ISU on March 1, 2022.

At the same time, it was forbidden to hold tournaments in the country.

In early June, the organization's congress extended the restrictions "until further notice."

And a month later, it became known about the transfer of the November stage of the Grand Prix from Russia to Finnish Espoo.

In parallel, in order to provide athletes with the opportunity to compete at the highest level and regularly go on the ice, instead of the prestigious international series, they organized their own Grand Prix.

At the same time, in July, the ISU admitted that they were considering organizing starts in Russia and Belarus in speed skating and short track.

However, they stressed that this is possible only if the removal of athletes from international tournaments is cancelled.

“It was naive to expect that we will organize the Grand Prix stage”

According to RT columnist Elena Vaitsekhovskaya, the ISU decision not to host the Grand Prix stage in Russia next season is nothing new, but it dispels the illusions of those people who believed that the situation could change for the better in the near future.

“For the skaters, on the one hand, it does not change the current competitive situation in any way - it remains exactly the same as we have observed this season: with the stages of the internal Grand Prix, Channel One Cups and other animation,” Vaitsekhovskaya noted.

- On the other hand, the officially announced position of the ISU, or rather, not even it, but the second consecutive season of isolation is a kind of powder keg for the FFKKR.

The point is not even that athletes can start looking for options for changing their sports citizenship: this process will not be massive, if only because it is always much easier to go with the flow than to change one's own life.

And the fact that the format of the Russian Grand Prix, which was implemented last fall, was clearly not in demand by the public.

In the second version, interest in tournaments (and figure skating in general) will most likely decline even more seriously.

And this is a much bigger problem than the right to host competitions.”

In turn, experts interviewed by RT expressed opposite points of view.

Thus, the 2009 European champion Sergei Novitsky believes that there are no prerequisites for easing sanctions against Russia.

“Against the background of everything that was happening, it was naive to expect that we would also hold the Grand Prix stage, and then return to international competitions.

In my opinion, it is quite obvious that there was nothing to hope for.

At the same time, we have always coped well with the organization of the largest tournaments.

Yes, we have great athletes.

Of course, world sport has lost from their absence.

But now nobody cares,” Novitsky complained.

According to him, at least until the end of the SVO, one should not expect the return of domestic athletes to international competitions, and even more so - holding them in the country.

“It is difficult to say when the restrictions will be lifted.

Firstly, everything is tied to the decision of the IOC, the recommendations of which are followed by federations in all sports.

Secondly, it is obvious that everything revolves around politics.

It is currently impossible to separate sport from it, although in theory it should be exactly the opposite.

Now this is one of the levers of pressure on Russia,” Novitsky added.

But the Calgary Olympic champion Natalia Bestemyanova, on the contrary, believes that as early as next season, Russian figure skaters can be returned to tournaments under the auspices of the ISU, even with some restrictions.

“There is still plenty of time before it.

It is difficult for me to answer the question of what position the ISU will take in the future, but I really hope for the best.

Moreover, the point of view of the federation may also change over time.

It's just that now one thing is absolutely clear: no one is interested in competitions without our guys.

As for the cancellation of the Grand Prix stage in Russia, in my opinion this is logical, because so far the sanctions have not been lifted from the skaters.

But as soon as this happens, then the tournaments in the country will begin to be held again.

Let's wait for the first step," Bestemyanova emphasized.