Thanks for splitting the two, D. Will be much easier to follow discussions that way.
Looks like the ISU are actively looking at moving the event to Europe in April. Apparently the German Paarlauf club has reported that 3 cities (probably Bern, Torino, and Malmo) have told the ISU that they can hold the championships in 4 weeks time. Hence, I think that all the signs are pointing to Bern holding the event in the 2nd or 3rd week of April.
I think they should move the Worlds and give Tokyo the next available slot (prob. in a couple of years time). The country is only beginning to understand the damages and lives lost. They have more important things to worry about such as infrastructure and feeding/getting water to eveyrone who needs it. They shouldn't be worried about holding a sporting competition at this time.
Weren't they crucified for Euros though?
100% agree. I think Canada could host this event really quickly as well. London and Tokyo should just switch. The 2013 Worlds is a big one just before the Olympics, but under the circumstances, perhaps this is the right thing to do. Tokyo has a couple of years to recover, and could use the boost of hosting this event in the pre-Olympic year.
There has been some talk about Canada, but apparently that would cause the ISU problems. Hence, the reason why its more likely to be somewhere in Europe - most likely Switzerland
The ISU press release makes it sound like World Championships will either be held in Tokyo after a delay or not at all. Where are people getting the idea that they will hold it in an alternate location?
Here is another source for the idea that Worlds may be moved to a new location ... specifically, China or South Korea:
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com...e-worlds-fate-within-three-or-four-days-.html
Ignore Hersh's speculation. Straight from the horse's mouth of Cinquanta (no offense to horses), moving worlds to an alternate location may not happen out of "respect for the Japanese (and the fact that) it is not easy to move the championships.'' Cinquanta isn't outright saying no to relocation, but he's explaining why it may not happen.
Cinquanta said:Speaking to me exclusively by telephone from his home in Italy, Cinquanta said any thoughts of having the event at an alternate site must take into consideration ``respect for the Japanese (and the fact that) it is not easy to move the championships.''
Cinquanta told me the issue was not whether Japanese skating officials would consider it disrespectful to move an event they had spent so much time and money planning before knowing whether it might be possible to hold it in Tokyo sometime soon.
``This is the World Figure Skating Championships, not the Japanese Figure Skating Championship,'' Cinquanta said. ``(But) I must take into consideration respect for the Japanese no matter what we do.''
The ISU press release makes it sound like World Championships will either be held in Tokyo after a delay or not at all. Where are people getting the idea that they will hold it in an alternate location?