COC cancelled - Italy will host

[Cutting the ice]

That still precludes Russian skaters, for example. The ISU will need to figure something out because the French travel affecting the jgp rules will affect Russian skaters attending Idf, too, won't it?
Edit: It's not just Russia either. There are other countries without widespread vaccination. And what about Americans/Canadians/Europeans who choose not to get it

I will say that as a country with pretty high vaccination rates (however, not high enough yet to fully mitigate the risk of a 4th wave), the population of Canada is very much in favour of this policy. People who have opted to become fully vaccinated are pretty tired of those who promote anti-vaxxer opinions. Some provinces and many organizations are moving to mandatory vaccination for certain jobs. This includes my workplace and there is a sigh of relief that they have gone that way. Of course, with approved exemptions.

But more to this point, this is from the website I linked to:
Amateur Athletes:
A person who enters Canada to take part in an international single sport event that has been authorized by the Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage (a high-performance athlete or someone engaged in an essential role in relation to that event, affiliated with a national organization responsible for that sport), as long as the person complies with any conditions imposed on them to minimize the risk of introduction or spread of COVID-19
Pre-entry test required
Exempt from arrival test
Exempt from Day-8 test
Exempt from quarantine
Exempt from mandatory hotel stopover

So it looks like unvaccinated Russians who are not infected, will be able to enter Canada if the GP figure skating competition is recognized by the Government.

 

[Skater Boy]

With respect to Canada and foreign travellers - updated information here. Canada allows fully vaccinated foreign nationals with an acceptable vaccine to enter without quarantine (rule change for Americans was August 9; rule change for rest of the world tentatively September 7). Acceptable vaccines at this point are Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zeneca and Jaansen/Johnson & Johnson.

 

[Skater Boy]

It is a tough situation. I am curious if they will make all skaters double vaccinated if they want to participate? Will their be a Constitutional Challenge. Is there really enough time to find a replacement event?

 

[Supernovaimplosion]

I will say that as a country with pretty high vaccination rates (however, not high enough yet to fully mitigate the risk of a 4th wave), the population of Canada is very much in favour of this policy. People who have opted to become fully vaccinated are pretty tired of those who promote anti-vaxxer opinions. Some provinces and many organizations are moving to mandatory vaccination for certain jobs. This includes my workplace and there is a sigh of relief that they have gone that way. Of course, with approved exemptions.

But more to this point, this is from the website I linked to:
Amateur Athletes:
A person who enters Canada to take part in an international single sport event that has been authorized by the Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage (a high-performance athlete or someone engaged in an essential role in relation to that event, affiliated with a national organization responsible for that sport), as long as the person complies with any conditions imposed on them to minimize the risk of introduction or spread of COVID-19
Pre-entry test required
Exempt from arrival test
Exempt from Day-8 test
Exempt from quarantine
Exempt from mandatory hotel stopover

So it looks like unvaccinated Russians who are not infected, will be able to enter Canada if the GP figure skating competition is recognized by the Government.

Of course, I'm Canadian and do agree with the policies we have.
I didn't see the exemption the first time I looked, but I'm sure (or at least hope) that the ISU and Skate Canada planned the Grand Prix with this mind.

 

[Artemisa]

Well..call russia federation and they probably organize all the grand prix with public

I would like one in Portugal .. but I think is a dream.

 

[gordana]

Well..call russia federation and they probably organize all the grand prix with public

I would like one in Portugal .. but I think is a dream.

President Gorshkov have announced that Russia had already a stage of their own and didn't want to host plus one more.
And how about neighbouring Spain?

 

[Dreamer57]

President Gorshkov have announced that Russia had already a stage of their own and didn't want to host plus one more.
And how about neighbouring Spain?

I'd love to see Barcelona host an event again!
Although I think the most likely candidates are Finland and Korea.

 

[Colonel Green]

And what about Americans/Canadians/Europeans who choose not to get it

I mean, if you chose not to get a vaccine you're voluntarily taking yourself out of international competition.

Although I think the most likely candidates are Finland and Korea.

Korea's travel regulations are also very tight. I'd kind of doubt they'd be an improvement on China.

 

[Supernovaimplosion]

I mean, if you chose not to get a vaccine you're voluntarily taking yourself out of international competition.

Of course. I don't think they should get special exemptions but I do wonder if there are any skaters so unwilling to get vaccinated that they would willing forgo competitions.

 

[Mariiiiskate]

So what will happen to the participation list if this is moved to for example to Finland, im talking mostly about the host spots here?
As China isn't hosting it but Finland is who would get the 3 host spots that have already been assigned? Would chinese skaters just not compete at all then as chinese single skaters only have 1 gp event which was in China. Im pretty sure some of them mostlly Han Yan and Boyang Jin were eligible for at least 1 gp anyway so would they still just not be able to compete in gp series for this season?

 

[lariko]

Actually, I think Canada has an exemption:
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/c...nal-single-sport-travel-authorization.html#a2
But I don't understand it

I don’t think this part:


The process begins upon receipt of the NSO’s plan to minimize the risk of introduction or spread of COVID‑19, together with initial letters of support.

The process can take up to 3 months, or longer.

…is promising….

 

[ruga]

That isn't surprising. China requires strict quarantine, even when traveling between cities and there aren't that many direct flights to Chongqing. The realistic candidates to take it could be Finland, Italy or Germany that are all set to hold challengers earlier in the season.

 

[SnowWhite]

I don’t think this part:


The process begins upon receipt of the NSO’s plan to minimize the risk of introduction or spread of COVID‑19, together with initial letters of support.

The process can take up to 3 months, or longer.

…is promising….

The assignments came out at the end of June, which is 4 months before the event is to happen. So I don't see why that necessarily should be a problem, if SC was on top of things. But we'll see.

 

[Supernovaimplosion]

The assignments came out at the end of June, which is 4 months before the event is to happen. So I don't see why that necessarily should be a problem, if SC was on top of things. But we'll see.

If I'm reading it right, doesn't it mean that substitutions or replacements would be impossible for Skate Canada?

 

[icybear]

They should have decided that much earlier. In this situation it is hard to get a country do a replacement event. And honestly, if one event doesn't happen the whole series makes no sense.

Well 3 months in advance is pretty darn good considering how all these covid rules seems to chop and change in less than a week. I remember Canada couldnt decide to cancel Worlds 2019 until pretty late. Canada will probably cancel Skate Canada at the last minute again. Their restrictions issue are still pretty strict

 

[SnowWhite]

If I'm reading it right, doesn't it mean that substitutions or replacements would be impossible for Skate Canada?

I haven't really looked at it in depth, but no, I don't think it necessarily means that. Because the exception is specifically for people who aren't fully vaccinated with a Canadian-approved vaccine.

Right now fully vaxed Americans are able to cross the border, and it's expected that that will be true for other foreigners by the fall I think. So skaters who are fully vaxed with an approved vaccine would likely be able to be replacements. It would limit the options, but there would still be some.

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

For me, the potential host nations right now are Japan, Finland, Russia, and the US. Russia doesn't have many of the same restrictions on travel, and love to host extra events. Finland, obviously, has already stepped in during a sudden GP cancellation. Japan seems to be really ramping up their vaccinations, and have the venues and ticket revenue to host this event. The US is a lot more open in compared to other countries, but they probably won't have the same ticket sales or venue space as Japan or Russia. I'm sure the ISU will chuck everything at the wall to make sure this GP series happens, so we'll see what unfolds over the next few weeks.

 

[Colonel Green]

One of the issues with finding a new host is that the spots have already been allocated so for, e.g., Finland, would they be expected to take up hosting duties without getting any host spots? Or do some of the Chinese skaters get bumped to make room?

 

[ruga]

One of the issues with finding a new host is that the spots have already been allocated so for, e.g., Finland, would they be expected to take up hosting duties without getting any host spots? Or do some of the Chinese skaters get bumped to make room?

I think only those Chinese skaters who qualify due to their WS, SB or Worlds placement will stay, and the others will be replaced by Finnish athletes. I don't think anyone would take late hosting responsibility if they didn't get anything for it.

 

[cto888]

I'd love to see Barcelona host an event again!
Although I think the most likely candidates are Finland and Korea.

Barcelona would be great! But Spain seems unlikely, as we haven't got time to catch our breath since last summer, covid-wise... I also think the fed said they wanted to focus on developing nationally, and a last minute GP sounds like a lot of money that (without full capacity sales) they won't get back.... And neither of the spanish ice dance teams were scheduled for CoC!