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On November 20, 2012, the ISU Vice President Figure Skating and the Chair of the ISU Sports Directorate filed a complaint against Ms. Natalia Kruglova, ISU Judge for Single and Pair Skating from Ukraine for alleged violations of the Duties of Judges and the ISU Code of Ethics at the 2012 Cup of Nice (France), on October 26, 2012.

Following consideration of the alleged violations of the General Regulations and the ISU Code of Ethics, the ISU Disciplinary Commission, on May 30, 2013, rendered the following decision:
1. Natalia Kruglova is guilty of misconduct and of violation of the duties of judges and the ISU Code of Ethics 2012.
2. A two years suspension from participation in all ISU activities as an ISU Judge is imposed on Natalia Kruglova, beginning on December 24, 2012 (date of the provisional suspension) and ending on December 23, 2014.
3. The Complainants and Ms. Kruglova shall bear their own costs.
4. The costs of the hearing (room and travel expenses of the panel and the witness) are imposed on the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation.

This decision is subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as per Article 25, paragraph 1 of the ISU Constitution 2012.

The decisions of the Disciplinary Commission are published in full on the ISU website.

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III. Facts

1. The Alleged Offender is an ISU Judge for single and pair skating from Ukraine (see ISU Communication no. 1756). At the Cup of Nice 2012 she served, among others, on the Panel of Judges for the Senior Pairs Event and the Junior Ladies Event. In his e-mail of October 30, 2012 the Event Referee of the Senior Pairs Event informed the Complainants that Ms...., an ISU Judge who served on the same Senior Pairs Judges Panel had come to him before the Short Program and told him that she had been approached by the Alleged Offender who encouraged her to give higher Grade of Execution Marks to the couple from Ukraine. Ms. ... handed over to the referee a report of an incident which took place on October 25, 2012, at the café of the ice rink in Nice. In this report Ms. ... wrote, that on entering the ice rink café she was invited by Ms. Kruglova to join her at the table. Ms. Kruglova allegedly asked her, if when judging the Senior Pairs Competition she would give the Ukrainian couple a +1 instead of a zero, as they need as many points as possible to qualify.
...

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... The Organizer will preferably accept skaters and couples having taken part in the finals of the Senior or Junior ISU Championships of the last two (2) seasons. As the host organizer, U.S. Figure Skating reserves the right to enter a maximum of four (4) entries in each discipline. Additionally Canada will be invited to enter a maximum of two (2) entries in each discipline with all other member nations invited to enter one (1) entry with alternate entries listed in case of openings. The Organizer reserves the right to limit the number of entries as required. The Organizer will confirm the accepted skater(s) after the closing date for entries. A maximum of 18 Ladies and Men, 8 Pairs teams and 10 Ice Dance teams will be accepted.

All competitors must be entered and all judges nominated only through their respective Member Association/Federation.

The preliminary entries must reach the Organizer by Friday, July 12, 2013 and all final entries no later than Friday, August 2, 2013 at the latest.

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U.S. Figure Skating’s Athlete Development Committee and Athlete Development Department are the oversights for the U.S. Novice and Junior Challenge Skate event. This event is a domestic developmental competition; it is not part of the U.S. Figure Skating High Performance department, Team USA, or the International Committee.

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To provide an opportunity for athletes that have competed at the national level in intermediate, novice and junior, but have not yet competed internationally, to experience what it would be like to compete at an international competition, through following the same event format as an international competition, observing the senior competition, and being part of a team.

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