ISU bans Russia and Belarus from competitions

[eterialskating]

Oh Gosh, this is a war! Russia invaded Ukraine!
No one is banning Russian skaters because they can’t beat them, this is part of the sanctions that Russia will have to go through for violating the freedom of another country! Blame it on Putin!
And please don’t say that is not fair to the skaters, remember that their Ukrainian peers are hiding form bombs while they are posting on Instagram!

Then Arab countries can legitimately ban Israeli players then because of political considerations. It's amazing how much people let their own politics and support cloud their judgment.

Anyway I said I will not be watching this farce or the rest of the season. I want to see a proper competition next year with the Russians on it and I do hope they give them more than the 1 spot each discipline because some lucky country got to take their podium places in this joke of a competition.

 

[4everchan]

No, it doesn't! There is no statement about such details as yet. They might just as well freeze the quotas, and it would be the fair thing to do, imo.

yup.. i can see how the quotas for Russia will simply be frozen. The fairest way is to let skaters earn spots from this year's worlds based on the actual event, and freeze Russia's quotas from 2021 worlds for the 2023 event. Very simple and fair.

 

[yume]

That's really bad for the athletes, especially for the girls who might never again compete at international events.

That's why i don't get the gloating around this situation. I understand the people who think it's right because Russia has to be punished and stopped. But gloating over the fact that some skaters are losing their (last) shot for a worlds medal, because other skaters will have the opportunity to "shine" more is beyond me.

 

[Ziotic]

I find certain male skaters offputting but I would not want their country to be excluded from competition to increase my enjoyment. If it was US and Japan I would not be gloating that finally, someone else could podium in the disciplines were they were leading for years and years and there is no end in sight. And they are not behaving any more modest than Russia about their podium finishes or pushing their skaters forward in PCSs.

They can’t even get out of Russia now, because RusFed imposed draconian measures to prevent skaters from switching. They held Samoilov for like 3 years for no reason…

So, yeah, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

You have greatly inferred way more than my post intended.

I was only speaking to my enjoyment of Russian women skating as an opposition to your statement.

 

[lariko]

It isn't just that Russia is "involved in a war." Russia invaded a neighboring country with the intent overthrow the elected government annex it to itself. It is the same thing Hitler did in Austria, on the pretext that Austrians were really German, and in Czechoslovakia, where ethnic Germans were living. It would be the same thing as China invading Taiwan. It was the reason for the first Iraq war, when Iraq invaded and took over Kuwait.

In 1938, Germany hosted Figure Skating World Championships. Its skaters participated in 1939 as well.

 

[4everchan]

I am also sad about pairs the most... then silver lining, may the pairs that will be competing rise to the occasion and bring their best. I wouldn't mind Peng-Jin or RR on the podium considering how well they can skate.

 

[Walt FSHunter]

Заявление Федерации фигурного катания на коньках России

Федерация фигурного катания на коньках России, как вся семья российского фигурного катания, крайне разочарована решением Совета Международного союза конькобежцев ISU об отстранении российских

fsrussia.ru

Look at this russian rubbish. They blame the international community for double standards and care for the defence of interests of russian skaters (these putin's propagandists). They do not care for Ukrainian children being killed every day. My heart breaks.

 

[macy]

Заявление Федерации фигурного катания на коньках России

Федерация фигурного катания на коньках России, как вся семья российского фигурного катания, крайне разочарована решением Совета Международного союза конькобежцев ISU об отстранении российских

fsrussia.ru

Look at this russian rubbish. They blame the international community for double standards and care for the defence of interests of russian skaters (these putin's propagandists). They do not care for Ukrainian children being killed every day. My heart breaks.

very on brand for them.

 

[Fluture]

If you can't beat them then ban them. The Worlds after Olympics have always been considered second rate. This year it will be third rate and a circus of geopolitics.

This is probably both the most ridiculous and the most distasteful thing I have read today. Russian athletes were banned, not because their president decided to invade and attack another sovereign nation, but because they were winning and can't be beaten otherwise. Speechless.

And yes, it sucks for the Russian skaters, many of which already missed out on competitions due to covid. But I think it's obvious that the pain of not being allowed to participate in a figure skating competition pales in comparison to what the Ukrainian people are going through right now:

Olga Mikutina has to watch from the media as her hometown of Kharkiv is bombed to the ground. Many of her family and friends are still there by the way, hiding in bunkers and subway stations. Arkhipova, who competed in the World Championships last year, has exchanged skates for weapons and is now fighting for her country. Shabotova wanted to flee Kyiv, that was the last anyone heard from her. How anyone can seriously claim that it would have felt right to watch the Russian skaters win medals under these circumstances, is beyond me.

Yes, it's not their personal fault. But they are representatives of their country, of the state-funded system they are in. Their results would 100% have been used to feed the Russian propaganda.

Many Russian skaters are among my favorites and especially the pairs discipline will miss them a lot. But this is so much bigger than a figure skating competition. It was the only right decision and I'm glad that ISU, at last and pressured by the actions of other sports bodies, came to its senses.

 

[lariko]

You have greatly inferred way more than my post intended.

I was only speaking to my enjoyment of Russian women skating as an opposition to your statement.

You found it necessary to voice negativity in regards to all Russian women's skating at the moment when they have their careers ruined in response to my post regretting it. Are you capable of seeing that it is not a particularly nice thing to do?

 

[Amei]

Since when ISU was not political? Rusfed was always controling ISU via political means, the sporting programs in Russia were always state sponsored, the athletes are all received by Putin before the Olympics and are used as propaganda tools for his dictatorial regime.

Already responded to another question about this: there's a difference between politics of big Feds throwing their weight for scoring systems/judges and we don't like the actions of your government so we are banning athletes from that country from competing.

 

[Maomars]

Заявление Федерации фигурного катания на коньках России

Федерация фигурного катания на коньках России, как вся семья российского фигурного катания, крайне разочарована решением Совета Международного союза конькобежцев ISU об отстранении российских

fsrussia.ru

Look at this russian rubbish. They blame the international community for double standards and care for the defence of interests of russian skaters (these putin's propagandists). They do not care for Ukrainian children being killed every day. My heart breaks.

In fact, 68% of russians agree with the military invasion of Ukraine, they firmly believe they are preventing a "genocide" against some separatists, but it's funny that if that was the main reason for the war, their incursion in Ukraine would've stopped after they took over those separatists regions, but instead they are aiming for the whole country.

This kind of rhetoric from them is no surprise, they are perpetually brainwashed by Putin's propaganda that the world is out to get them, when they are the major bullies in this situation.
Nothing is ever their fault, it wasn't when Valieva was caught in a doping test and it isn't now when they are killing several ukranian people.

 

[lariko]

Yes, it's not their personal fault. But they are representatives of their country, of the state-funded system they are in. Their results would 100% have been used to feed the Russian propaganda.

If that was the case, then ISU should have simultaneously temporarily suspended the rules that prohibits changing of country for 2022-2024 and places it in the hands of the home federation, regardless of what country the skaters represented earlier. AT least that would have given an option for some of them to leave. If Russia is using the athletes as propaganda tools, maybe some of them would chose to move if it wasn't basically a career-ending move. I'd want noting more than this option, so at least some of them can be saved.

 

[iceskater10]

Then Arab countries can legitimately ban Israeli players then because of political considerations. It's amazing how much people let their own politics and support cloud their judgment.

Anyway I said I will not be watching this farce or the rest of the season. I want to see a proper competition next year with the Russians on it and I do hope they give them more than the 1 spot each discipline because some lucky country got to take their podium places in this joke of a competition.

Good don't watch!! As it might be a fair competition with out the Russians in it!

 

[Ziotic]

You found it necessary to voice negativity in regards to all Russian women's skating at the moment when they have their careers ruined in response to my post regretting it. Are you capable of seeing that it is not a nice thing to do?

I mean their careers were ruined by the state sponsored doping IMO. I look back at all those medals and they are tainted.

State sponsored is the key here. Their careers are once again a casualty of their state and it’s deplorable actions.

I have yet to see any active Russian skaters speak out in opposition to what is happening and thus are complicit/in support of their governments actions.

 

[Vemvane]

Sports have seen boycotts and bans for political reasons for ages and ages - one of the longest-lasting ones in recent times would be the sporting boycotts of Apartheid South Africa, which lasted until the 1990s [source, source, source, source]. Sure, many South African athletes did not receive opportunities to compete internationally, or if they did, were compelled by social and political pressure to withdraw (see, e.g., Zola Budd), but that was nothing compared to the treatment of all non-white people in the country. Russia's military has invaded Ukraine, Russia's athletes are facing political consequences. I'm sorry for the athletes, but their loss of the privilege of international competition is in no way comparable to what the residents of Ukraine are currently undergoing.

Might I wish for more consistency in the application of sporting sanctions against aggressor countries, or those committing human rights crimes? Yes. Can we write to the IOC and international sporting federations and unions to ask them to be more consistent and to stop turning a blind eye to the actions of certain countries? Also yes.

But to me, this is not entering terra incognita where sports and politics are linked - think of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, boycotted by most African nations because of the IOC's refusal to bar New Zealand [source, source], the anti-Apartheid Gleneagles Agreement between Commonwealth presidents and prime ministers that discouraged Commonwealth athletes from competing against South Africans [source], the 1980 and 1984 Olympic boycotts with their political motivations, the UK government leaning on the England Cricket Board in 2009 to cancel a tour of Zimbabwe after Mugabe's re-election [source], or, in 1972, the uninviting of the then-Rhodesia from the Olympics because it was a white supremacist nation; the IOC president at the time, Avery Brundage, complained that "[t]he political pressures in sport are becoming intolerable." [source]).

 

[macy]

If that was the case, then ISU should have simultaneously temporarily suspended the rules that prohibits changing of country for 2022-2024 and places it in the hands of the home federation, regardless of what country the skaters represented earlier. AT least that would have given an option for some of them to leave. If Russia is using the athletes as propaganda tools, maybe some of them would chose to move if it wasn't basically a career-ending move. I'd want noting more than this option, so at least some of them can be saved.

unfortunately these kids have no idea. they are raised and brought up in this narcissistic culture and environment and are taught to believe it is right. it's all they know. they have no reason to believe it's wrong or an issue.

 

[Maomars]

At this point we need to stop and re-evaluate this naive idea that sports unite nations. North Korea was allowed to participate in the Olympic Games but I doubt anything changed for those athletes. It's all just for show and we should stop buying into this clownery.

 

[lariko]

I mean their careers were ruined by the state sponsored doping IMO. I look back at all those medals and they are tainted.

State sponsored is the key here. Their careers are once again a casualty of their state and it’s deplorable actions.

I have yet to see any active Russian skaters speak out in opposition to what is happening and thus are complicit/in support of their governments actions.

I haven't seen a single Russian man medal since I've started watching figure skating.

 

[jenaj]

In 1938, Germany hosted Figure Skating World Championships. Its skaters participated in 1939 as well.

And something like that should never happen again.