Plushenko loses eligibility

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

sillylionlove said:

So he withdrew from worlds because he was injured and then skated in show instead to make some money? I get the making money part...but if he was so injured that he could not skate at worlds then how was he able to skate in shows? I get the point of the ISU. It does say that he has 20 days to appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport. Let's see if he does that. I guess my gripe is that he knew the rules yet seem to break them. While I have never been a fan of Plushenko, my biggest problem with him is that he has a really big ego and sometimes comes off a little conceited.

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I'm not sure of the time frame, but I believe the show(s) that he skated in were almost two weeks after worlds.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

The translation may have been off but I read that he is not going to appeal but rather get the iSU itself to reverse the ban?

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

Show skating is not like competition

A skater might do two triples and add more fun nuances as opposed to being required to do 7-8 triples, plus all those other requirements, in competition.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

If I remember correctly the injury itself wasn't so severe. Just a toe injury I think, but since he couldn't do himself justice (not being able to do 4T) he decided to withdraw. He participated in a show in Stockholm 2nd of april, so the news about his injury before worlds were posted on the Swedish skatingfederation website, assuring that he would only be sick-listed for about 2 weeks and therefore not miss out on the shows. Apparantly things about that wasn't entirely cleared with the ISU or the Russian fed....

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

visaliakid said:

For me, his sour grapes reaction to losing the Gold Medal in Vancouver and then belittling the winner by inferring Lysacek's win without a quad was nothing more than a woman's program. What an ***! I lost all respect for him even though he had been great for the sport up till then. Now I just want him to disappear! Buh bye!

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I love you! Took the words from my mouth. Whoop!

What can I say, Karma's a *****! LOL

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

I have to agree with those who are doubting Plushy's losing any sleep over this -- was it ImaginaryPogue who called it the howling of the ISU?

Not that I think Plushy thinks he's above the rules or that he's saying "up yours!" to the ISU or anything like that. Not at all. But that given the nature of the situation as was described, that apparently his own Federation was questioning his w/d from Worlds already (but that was a done deal at that point) and who knew/knows how the investigation would turn out and how the ISU might/might not react, etc. etc. AND probably he himself has ambivalent feelings about whether he's going to compete in ISU events any more anyway .... he probably figured he might as well ride the wave of his comeback, skate the show, and then figure out what to do with the pieces once they've all fallen out. Which may take a while.

The man's gotta feel a little above the fray a little bit given his accomplishments in the sport, I would think. Again, not in a "screw you" way but just that I can understand a person who has achieved so much in his sport feeling comfortable wanting to participate in a show for his fans, even realizing that making that choice may get him in hot water with his Federation, but doing it anyway, all the while realizing he may be creating a situation that will have to be dealt with -- whether by not participating in any more ISU comps or, if he decides he really still has the competitive fire, having to appeal and get the situation turned around some way. But he's probably comfortable accepting whatever the ultimate outcome is with the Russian Federation and/or the ISU (which is again probably why he skated the show). I certainly don't think he was unaware of the need for his Federation's permission or just "forgot" to see to the paperwork or request permission or anything like that. I just think he's willing to roll with the outcome, whatever it is.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

chloepoco said:

I'm not sure of the time frame, but I believe the show(s) that he skated in were almost two weeks after worlds.

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It was less than a week. The Men's long program at Worlds took place on March 25th, the gala was on March 28th, and the KOI show was on March 30th or 31st....

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

Those Kings on Ice performances are on YouTube and you can see his jumps were mild. Not Plushenko-esque at all.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

i would be really upset if he had gone to worlds instead of KOI and the 4 kings number with him lambiel - joub-and weir didnt happen, this was the highlight of my season.if it costed him his eligibility, it totally worthed it!

rules are rules but off topic, maybe this would be a nice start for ISU to dicth this rule about shows, and start being next to athletes instead of against them. From skating in shows ISU benefits afterwards with their increased popularity.

Second off topic, I dont get how it is ok for ISU to say "I m not feeling like competiting at these Worlds but will go to the same show as Plushenko was" or " I m not feeling like competiting at these Worlds but will go to a reality show" but when a skater says I cant compete finally because i have some sort of injury but will go to the same show Weir was" , it is an eligibility issue.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

seniorita said:

i would be really upset if he had gone to worlds instead of KOI and the 4 kings number with him lambiel - joub-and weir didnt happen, this was the highlight of my season. if it costed him his eligibility, it totally worthed it!

rules are rules but off topic, maybe this would be a nice start for ISU to dicth this rule about shows, and start being next to athletes instead of against them. From skating in shows ISU benefits afterwards with their increased popularity.

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I agree, Seniorita! I would rather see some innovative pro routine than yet another rehash of the same program we've been watching all year.

And it would indeed be great if the ISU figured out that a show that draws in fans will actually benefit the ISU. I understand that the rules were broken in this case, but maybe the powers-that-be could figure out a way of making more beneficial rules.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

while I normally don't side with the ISU I completely understand WHY they have this rule and agree with it.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

seniorita said:

I dont get how it is ok for ISU to say "I m not feeling like competiting at these Worlds but will go to the same show as Plushenko was" or " I m not feeling like competiting at these Worlds but will go to a reality show" but when a skater says I cant compete finally because i have some sort of injury but will go to the same show Weir was" , it is an eligibility issue.

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A couple of issues here. The ISU sort of has to take the position that if you're too sick to compete at worlds you're too sick to skate a show a week later. (Another difference between Plush and Weir was Plush medalled and Weir didn't and the ISU is more interested in cracking down on oly medalists than also rans).
You and I know the difference between eligible competition and shows and how someone who isn't healthy enough for one might be up able to do the other but bureaucracies don't / can't work that way. I'm actually kind of sympathetic to the ISU's position even though it's kind of flawed.

On the other hand, again this issue seems to have been deliberately been instigated from within the Russian fed. I don't think it's possible to tell whether it's from a Plush ally giving him an excuse to kiss the eligibles goodbye or a vengeful enemy wanting to settle scores.

What I think happened: Plush told them what he wanted to do and they didn't say yes or no (or made him understand 'yes' when that's not what they meant) and he trusted them to take care of the paperwork and make things okay and he was taken by surprise by this decision. And I don't think he much cares, to any rational person the Russian fed and the ISU need him more than he needs them.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

Tonichelle said:

while I normally don't side with the ISU I completely understand WHY they have this rule and agree with it.

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If they want a rule to chain skaters they should also add a bullet saying you cant skip worlds to go for a picnic, I find irrational that once you skip them injured you cant do anything else, but if you just skip them for no reason you can appear elsewhere and your eligibility is not questionned. For the record, i dont want this bullet as I said I dont like this whole rule anyway, we had discussed it in the past here. What ISU would be without its athletes? They should go by their needs and not against them.

Mafke said:

...(Another difference between Plush and Weir was Plush medalled and Weir didn't and the ISU is more interested in cracking down on oly medalists than also rans)...

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point taken! and that is maybe the most sane post I ve read these days!!!

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

I dunno - Joannie Rochette skipped worlds, skated in a show and despite the ISU questioning it, the Canadian Federation did eventually get the requisite permissions to maintain her eligibility status. The question isn't why didn't the Russian Federation do this?

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

ImaginaryPogue said:

I dunno - Joannie Rochette skipped worlds, skated in a show and despite the ISU questioning it, the Canadian Federation did eventually get the requisite permissions to maintain her eligibility status. The question isn't why didn't the Russian Federation do this?

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I believe that Rochette got a special permission because of her mother. I have understood that if RF had sanctioned the KOI show for Plushenko, no Russian skaters could have skated at ISU competitions. ISU is very strict with skaters who cancel from a competition and are skating in a show in the same time frame.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

it all boils down to asking permission. Joannie asked to skip worlds and then did the thin ice show. It was questionable, but because she went through the proper channels she was allowed. Plushenko pulled the injury card which would have been fine, but then he skated instead of staying off the ice and recooping. It is not hard to understand why he was out of line. Rules are at the descretion of the governing body, thumbing his nose at said rules got him sanctioned. If he appeals it my guess is they'd throw their decision out like most disputed traffic tickets.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

Plushenko withdrew from worlds on the 18th and stayed off the ice for over a week from what I could gather. He said doctors said two weeks now it seems that the ISU is being very severe about that 2 week period and plushenko could not be on the ice at all during that two weeks. They are being totally over harsh about it all!

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

Tonichelle said:

It is not hard to understand why he was out of line. Rules are at the descretion of the governing body, thumbing his nose at said rules got him sanctioned. If he appeals it my guess is they'd throw their decision out like most disputed traffic tickets.

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sorry Toni but Plushenko asked for permission and was given it firstly and then Isu threatened RF and RF took it back the last minute, it is not like Plusheko didnt ask for permission. The show was in the same time frame as Worlds but did not overlapped, Joubert was there. And like in case of Joannie who firstly skated and then Federation back it up like many cases, he skated in the show and it is often that permission comes after, it is not the first time that paperwork is done after the show has ended. Maybe he knew his would lose his eligibility and did it anyway but it is not like he did try to go to unsanctioned event first place.
If he appeals I guess ISU is waiting him to present the medical proofs and since he had surgery on May he may back it up his meniscus was not for competition mode. I hope he doesnt apply and says them au revoir. What puzzles me is why he didnt just skip worlds like all the others and went into all this procedure.

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

Is it just me, or would it really be nice if the ISU clarified these rules so the skaters, the federations and the fans can clearly understand them? :scratch:

I'm not so naive as to think that the ISU cares about any of the above, but I can dream....

Re: Evgeni has lost his eligibility.

Plush fully understood the rules. I think he didn't think anything would happen and probably didn't really care if it did. Ole others have said, he has no intensions o skating in the GP this year and if he wants to come back for Sochi, somehow he will get his eligibility back.