58th Ordinary ISU Congress

[gsk8]

The 58th Ordinary ISU Congress will be held in Phuket (THA) at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa from Monday, June 6, 2022 through Friday, June 10, 2022.

Every Congress sees major decisions about the future and direction of the ISU. In 2022 almost 250 proposals will be discussed and voted by Congress. Additionally, elections for ISU Office Holders positions will take place.

Congress Agenda

Below is the summary of the Congress program, the full agenda including the 249 Congress Proposals are available in ISU Communication 2472.

· June 5: Council Meeting
· June 6: Opening of the Congress / Workshops
· June 7 – 9: Full Congress / Figure Skating and Speed Skating Branch Sessions
· June 10: Full Congress and Elections

Proposals For Congress

All the proposals for Congress are available in ISU Communication 2472.

If a proposal for the Constitution or for the General Regulations and Special Regulations and/or a proposal of the Council and/or the Technical Committees for Technical Rules is submitted later than the date specified above, it can be discussed and voted upon at Congress, provided the proposal has reached the ISU Secretariat in English for distribution to all ISU Members, not later than three weeks before the Congress and shall be certified as urgent business by a four-fifths majority of ISU Members present and voting.

Candidates

For this election Congress, the list of nominees, grouped by elected positions, containing the names of the nominees and the nominators is now available following the submission deadline of April 25, 2022.

The candidates are presented per position and in alphabetical order. However, the sequence in which the candidates for the different positions will be presented during the elections will be drawn in the presence of the ISU auditor.

Where to watch

The 58th Ordinary ISU Congress will be available as a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Further details will be provided in due course.

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

Here is a summary of major proposals in a Twitter thread

 

[Andrea82]

Livestream links

ISU Congress 2022

Visit https://isu.org/inside-isu/rules-regulations/isu-congresses for more information.The ISU Council and the Figure and Speed Skating Association of Thaila...

www.youtube.com

Figure Skating Branch Session

Figure Skating Branch Session

Visit https://isu.org/inside-isu/rules-regulations/isu-congresses for more information. The ISU Council and the Figure and Speed Skating Association of Thail...

www.youtube.com

Speed Skating Branch session

Speed Skating Branch Session

Visit https://isu.org/inside-isu/rules-regulations/isu-congresses for more information.The ISU Council and the Figure and Speed Skating Association of Thaila...

www.youtube.com

 

[Joe Mendoza]

so...it sounds like the ISU will have to include Russia and Belarus in this year's congress? did I read those articles correctly?

 

[Anna K.]

so...it sounds like the ISU will have to include Russia and Belarus in this year's congress? did I read those articles correctly?

They are not excluded from ISU. So technically, they should participate.

 

[Amei]

so...it sounds like the ISU will have to include Russia and Belarus in this year's congress? did I read those articles correctly?

It would seem that they threatened a lawsuit, so the ISU probably doesn't have much ground to bar participation in the Congress or cash to fight a lawsuit. Hopefully this means good things for the Russian athletes for competing.

 

[lariko]

It would seem that they threatened a lawsuit, so the ISU probably doesn't have much ground to bar participation in the Congress or cash to fight a lawsuit. Hopefully this means good things for the Russian athletes for competing.

It doesn’t say threatened a lawsuit. The legal team (ISU’s) advised as a consultation that ISU risks the lawsuit if it moves to exclude Russia/Belorussia from the congress. If that descision is challenged and the challenge is won, then, consequently, the subsequent decisions of the congress would be considered invalid.

In other words, problems may arise, but hadn’t arisen. Any proposed motion like that would go through a legal team. You can’t just write whatever you wish when you are an international regulator.

 

[zebobes]

So the one surprising discussion that happened in the most recent livestream was that the Austrian federation wanted to to take a rule that applied to Grand Prixes about reverse starting orders, and wondered aloud why it wasn't possible for every competition to just happen in reverse order, how much simpler it would be in general. Apparently the starting order was a topic that caused a lot of debate and ideas, and then Evan Bates brought up the idea how a lot of skaters would like to be able to choose their starting order for the Free Skate, the competitors in first place should have first dibs to choose their preferred number within their warm-up group, then going on down the line of competitors.

Lakernik was rather amused by the idea, because he said that he once proposed this idea as a joke, so the fact that this actually gets brought up tickled him. In fact, after the stream ended, the person sitting next to Lakernik was also rather taken by the idea, and began talking about how it could cause a lot of interesting strategy for the skaters, and it can be an interesting thing for the audience as well to see what the athletes choose.

However, none of these ideas can actually be used yet because they aren't in an official proposal, so in a way it was kind of a pointless discussion, but it will be interesting to see if these ideas get codified some day. What do you guys think?

 

[Andrea82]

The results on Ukraine Federation on Russia and Belarus were as follows

Excluding Russian and Belarusian delegates from Congress: Yes 48 No 55 Abs 13
Excluding Russian and Belarusian candidates from standing on ISU elections: Yes 53 No 46 Abs 16. 2/3 majority required (78). So it failed
Excluding ISU Office Holders from Russia and Belarus from participating in ISU activities: Yes 60 No 38 Abs 18. 2/3 majority required (78). So it failed

As requested by the Swiss delegate, they were conducted as secret votes.

 

[Amei]

The results on Ukraine Federation on Russia and Belarus were as follows

Excluding Russian and Belarusian delegates from Congress: Yes 48 No 55 Abs 13
Excluding Russian and Belarusian candidates from standing on ISU elections: Yes 53 No 46 Abs 16. 2/3 majority required (78). So it failed
Excluding ISU Office Holders from Russia and Belarus from participating in ISU activities: Yes 60 No 38 Abs 18. 2/3 majority required (78). So it failed

As requested by the Swiss delegate, they were conducted as secret votes.

Does any of those impact the actual athletes being allowed to participate in international competitions?

 

[lariko]

So the one surprising discussion that happened in the most recent livestream was that the Austrian federation wanted to to take a rule that applied to Grand Prixes about reverse starting orders, and wondered aloud why it wasn't possible for every competition to just happen in reverse order, how much simpler it would be in general. Apparently the starting order was a topic that caused a lot of debate and ideas, and then Evan Bates brought up the idea how a lot of skaters would like to be able to choose their starting order for the Free Skate, the competitors in first place should have first dibs to choose their preferred number within their warm-up group, then going on down the line of competitors.

Lakernik was rather amused by the idea, because he said that he once proposed this idea as a joke, so the fact that this actually gets brought up tickled him. In fact, after the stream ended, the person sitting next to Lakernik was also rather taken by the idea, and began talking about how it could cause a lot of interesting strategy for the skaters, and it can be an interesting thing for the audience as well to see what the athletes choose.

However, none of these ideas can actually be used yet because they aren't in an official proposal, so in a way it was kind of a pointless discussion, but it will be interesting to see if these ideas get codified some day. What do you guys think?

Sounds interesting, because it does admit strategy into consideration and may help skaters with nerves to do something about it. On another hand, if they don’t get their desired number, it might end up propping superstitions.

One thing for sure, fans would love a new topic to discuss, lol

 

[lariko]

Does any of those impact the actual athletes being allowed to participate in international competitions?

Presumably, officials are there to advocate for athletes. I dunno if the last one extends to Russian coaches coming to competitions with athletes not representing Russia, but I hope it does, so I hope it at least helps those guys.

 

[karne]

The ISU is likely keeping Russia at Congress for now, because Russia has indicated they will take legal action if excluded. If Russia is excluded from Congress, sues and wins, every decision made at Congress would be overturned and have to be made again, causing huge problems and delays that could affect the season.

So include them initially, then throw them out after.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

So the one surprising discussion that happened in the most recent livestream was that the Austrian federation wanted to to take a rule that applied to Grand Prixes about reverse starting orders, and wondered aloud why it wasn't possible for every competition to just happen in reverse order, how much simpler it would be in general. Apparently the starting order was a topic that caused a lot of debate and ideas, and then Evan Bates brought up the idea how a lot of skaters would like to be able to choose their starting order for the Free Skate, the competitors in first place should have first dibs to choose their preferred number within their warm-up group, then going on down the line of competitors.

Lakernik was rather amused by the idea, because he said that he once proposed this idea as a joke, so the fact that this actually gets brought up tickled him. In fact, after the stream ended, the person sitting next to Lakernik was also rather taken by the idea, and began talking about how it could cause a lot of interesting strategy for the skaters, and it can be an interesting thing for the audience as well to see what the athletes choose.

However, none of these ideas can actually be used yet because they aren't in an official proposal, so in a way it was kind of a pointless discussion, but it will be interesting to see if these ideas get codified some day. What do you guys think?

Ach, for goodness sake! It took donkey's years of people calling for it for the ISU to approve a rule that actually makes the competitions easier for the fans to follow. And now barely a few years later somebody wants to change it?!



I do despair of this sport.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[flanker]

I am for drawing over the reverse order.

 

[lariko]

Based on this, the decision on R/B athletes themselves vs officials is left for tomorrow. I dunno if I dare hope for any clear cut decision. Like, even if it is completely devastating, I’d rather have specific number of years ban stipulated than something ‘for now… then we’ll see.’ Yes, I get it that the war is not over yet, but i would still want a specific verdict. Just better for moving into acceptance stage. In all likelihood, it would be waffle though on the end date of the ban.

Конгресс ISU во вторник рассмотрит вопрос отстранения российских спортсменов от международных стартов

Конгресс ISU во вторник рассмотрит вопрос отстранения российских спортсменов от международных стартов - Фигурное катание на Sports.ru

www.sports.ru

 

[macy]

i don't think we will see them next season at all. i have a feeling they will take it year by year- there's no way for them to know what will be happening in 2, 3, 5 years.

 

[Amei]

Based on this, the decision on R/B athletes themselves vs officials is left for tomorrow. I dunno if I dare hope for any clear cut decision. Like, even if it is completely devastating, I’d rather have specific number of years ban stipulated than something ‘for now… then we’ll see.’ Yes, I get it that the war is not over yet, but i would still want a specific verdict. Just better for moving into acceptance stage. In all likelihood, it would be waffle though on the end date of the ban.

Конгресс ISU во вторник рассмотрит вопрос отстранения российских спортсменов от международных стартов

Конгресс ISU во вторник рассмотрит вопрос отстранения российских спортсменов от международных стартов - Фигурное катание на Sports.ru

www.sports.ru

Eh, I think it could boil down to money, Russia is a country where figure skating is actually popular, the ISU has lost millions in recent years and is projected to lose even more in the coming years, can they particularly afford to lose the Russian market and potentially impacting the Chinese market?

 

[lariko]

Eh, I think it could boil down to money, Russia is a country where figure skating is actually popular, the ISU has lost millions in recent years and is projected to lose even more in the coming years, can they particularly afford to lose the Russian market and potentially impacting the Chinese market?

They will just downsize to match Japanese funding (or whoever will throw in) and focus on speed skating side.

 

[sissyfritz]

ISU Congress has just voted in favour of creating (or designating) a full ISU event for the purpose of Olympic qualifying. So no more Nebelhorn-like situations where some competitors are attempting to qualify whilst others are just competing locally.