ISU Communication No. 2265 - ISU Code of Ethics

[Sylvia]

Published on July, 1, 2019: https://www.isu.org/inside-isu/isu-communications/communications/21534-isu-communication-2265/file

Article 10, paragraph 1 of the ISU Code of Ethics requires all persons subject to the Code to avoid any conflict of interest and to refrain from placing themselves in any situation which could reasonably be conceived to create a conflict of interest. The purpose of this Communication is to clarify this requirement specifically with respect to acting Figure Skating Officials and to invitations of ISU Office Holders and ISU Officials as guests to Skating competitions.

 

[nimi]

I was about to reply to @Dobre's post over at the pairs discussion thread, but on second thought, this is a better place to post my reply.

A new set of rules was posted on GS this summer that addressed this. I believe it excluded anyone that has a special relationship with a competing athlete. It also stated that tech panel members could not be from the same country as the top 5 or so athletes. A poster later said that it only referred to major internationals. I very much doubt that I can find the thread now. The search engine at GS doesn't work at all for me. Perhaps someone else will recognize the topics above and know the correct document to link.

But, as I said, it seemed that it only referred to major international competitions rather than GPs or Challengers.

I don't remember the GS thread, but I remember there was a Phil Hersh article about the new rules. It handily summarizes/explains the contents of the ISU communication that @Sylvia posted above:

http://www.globetrottingbyphiliphersh.com/home/2019/7/2/international-figure-skating-officials-finally-get-the-message-and-act-on-conflicts-of-interest

Changes to the ISU code of ethics, announced in an ISU communication dated Monday, will prohibit sitting ISU member federation presidents from judging at the Olympics, ISU Championships, senior Grand Prix events, and the senior and the junior Grand Prix Finals. (...)

The prohibition is more encompassing when it comes to serving as a referee or member of a technical panel at any of those events. Those officiating positions now are closed to ISU member federation presidents, vice-presidents, directors general / secretaries and sports directors.

And there also is this, applying to the Olympic Games: no one from a country that had skaters in the top five at the worlds in the previous year or “who can reasonably be expected” to place in the top five at the ensuing Olympics can serve as a referee or member of a technical panel in the discipline where that country’s skater or team is in those top five classifications. (...)

The ISU will apply the same restriction based on nationality and likely placement “whenever possible” to referees and technical panels at ISU senior championships.

And then it gets funky.

If the restriction is not possible, then the referee and all members of the technical panel shall, “whenever possible,” be from those countries whose skaters are expected to be in the top five.

Hope this helps!

 

[starrynight]

Interesting.

I'm just interested as to how this works. Particularly the 'expected to be in the top 5' thing.

So in dance, if you turn up to Olympics and the technical panel has someone from your country... does that mean the politik has already decided you can forget being in the top 5? lol. Probably.

 

[Dobre]

Interesting.

I'm just interested as to how this works. Particularly the 'expected to be in the top 5' thing.

So in dance, if you turn up to Olympics and the technical panel has someone from your country... does that mean the politik has already decided you can forget being in the top 5? lol. Probably.

I don't know how it will work either. I'm thinking the impetus behind the rule is a good one, but I'm also thinking that excluding French, Russian, and American tech panel members because athletes from those countries finished top 6 at last year's Worlds won't do a lot of good to balance the scoring if it means we will instead have Canadian &/or Italian representatives on the tech panel.

 

[euterpe]

It's a joke: at JGP ITA, the Ladies tech panel had a Russian Tech Controller. Of course, two medalwinners at the Italian JGP were Russian. And every other JGP had at least one Russian on the podium, with two at Croatia and Poland, and three in Russia.

 

[nimi]

It's a joke: at JGP ITA, the Ladies tech panel had a Russian Tech Controller. Of course, two medalwinners at the Italian JGP were Russian. And every other JGP had at least one Russian on the podium, with two at Croatia and Poland, and three in Russia.

Do you mean to imply that the Russian tech controller had a "special relationship" with the young skaters in question, as defined in paragraph 1.1. of the communication?

Because that rule is separate from the "top 5" rule (see 1.4. & 1.5.) which only applies to Olympics & ISU Senior Championships, "whenever possible".

Or are you saying that in your view, the "top 5" rule should apply to JGP events as well, which would basically mean that no Russian person should be able to serve in any JGP tech panel ever?

 

[euterpe]

Russians have dominated all disciplines at the JGP. Look at the composition of the JGPF:

Ladies: 4 out of 6 entries
Pairs: 5 out of 6 entries
Dance: 3 out of 6 entries
Men: 3 out of 6 entries

It would make sense to extend the rule to the JGP.

 

[starrynight]

Russians have dominated all disciplines at the JGP. Look at the composition of the JGPF:

Ladies: 4 out of 6 entries
Pairs: 5 out of 6 entries
Dance: 3 out of 6 entries
Men: 3 out of 6 entries

It would make sense to extend the rule to the JGP.

I can see logistical issues with the Junior grand prix circuit, but I think it might be possible for the grand prix final.

Although, the more a field is almost full of a country's skaters, the less relevant national influence is. For example in pairs, with 5 out of 6 of the field being Russian, nationality probably doesn't mean much.

 

[Dobre]

It's a real change. A limited one, but a real one.

Tech panels from Senior Major Internationals that had dance powerhouse tech panel members, representing countries that had teams which finished top 5 the previous season post-Sochi.

2019 Worlds-France (Russia was on the panel as well & had a team medal, but its highest team the previous year was outside the top 5)
2019 4CCs-Canada
2018 Worlds-USA & Canada
(2018 4CCs-Japan was on this panel & had a team medal, but its highest team the previous year was outside the top 5)
2018 Europeans-Italy & Russia
2017 Europeans-France, Russia, & Italy
2017 4CCs-USA & Canada
2016 4CCs-USA
2016 Europeans-Russia
2015 Worlds-Canada, Russia, USA
(2015 Europeans-France was on the panel & had a team medal, but its highest team the previous season was outside the top 5--since Pechalat & Bourzat skipped Euros).

Of course, removing all these tech experts from the championships with their own skaters probably increases the odds of having them mark athletes at the opposite regional championships (4CCs & Europeans).

It also probably greatly increases the likelihood of Dostatni, Chait, &/or Elek on the Worlds panels. (Which would not make everyone's day).

 

[Debbie S]

I think the rule is good, on paper. In reality, I wonder about the implications, esp thinking of dance....only having officials from countries outside the top 5 at Worlds doesn't take away the jockeying...in fact, movement below the top 5 relies just as much, if not more, on politiks. Having a caller from Italy, for ex, doesn't take away the possibility of bloc judging and deals. To get a panel with no political motivation, you'd have to ban officials from any competing countries, or at least those in the top 10 or 12. But the countries producing top-tier teams also produce judges and officials with the necessary knowledge of the sport to judge at the World level. Well, I guess Elek is the exception...

 

[Deleted member 40371]

Since top 10 can determine quota place and teams in top 15 to 20 can move up, I suggest that non of these countries be in the tech panel. I suggest we use the coach of the Indian singles/pairs and Ice Dance’s team that competed JGP as the tech specialist. Just by hiring one person we can use him/her in all events, and no chance of national bias. I am not sure whether he/she can do the job is in doubt since the young skaters the person coached lacked, ummm almost everything except spirit. However, the most important factor, the national bias will be eliminated.

 

[5Ali3]

Some of those policies were new; the tech panels for the Olympics consisting of officials from outside the "top" countries in a discipline is not new.

It sounds good on paper to say that tech panel officials for the Olympics must come from outside "top" countries.

Counterpoint: Experience and consistent exposure to a discipline is important for tech panel officials. Officials from countries like the U.S. and Russia call dance competitions with large groups and high levels of skating ability throughout the year. Officials from countries without deep or large dance or pair programs often lack that experience. The impact is less in singles, but still very present when you talking about the difference between the experience that "top" country officials have to evaluating quads and triple-triples, etc.

Additional countertop: A noteworthy percentage of the tech panel officials in 2018 represent their countries of origin as ISU officials but actually reside in "top five" countries.

 

[nimi]

In somewhat related news, the draw for judges for ISU Championships was held last week, as detailed in
Communication No. 2288:

https://www.isu.org/docman-documents-links/isu-files/documents-communications/isu-communications/22396-isu-communication-2288/file

For the TL;DR version, see this SkatingScores tweet: https://twitter.com/SkatingScores/status/1184497843303866368

So, a French judge will sit on every Euros panel, whereas Russia and USA will be have representation on every judging panel in Montreal. I'm sure this will inspire some lively discussion and speculation in various parts of the skating fandom in months to come!

When they get around to appointing the tech panel members for each competition, it'll be interesting to see whether the top 5 rule (discussed upthread) will apply, or whether they'll decide that it's somehow "not possible" and we'll end up with US and Russian officials on every tech panel as well... (Relevant passage from Comm. No. 2265 below, emphasis mine)

1.5 When appointing the members of the Technical Panel and the Referees for ISU Senior Championships, whenever possible, there shall be no appointments of Officials from ISU Members whose Skaters can reasonably be expected to place 1 – 5 in the respective discipline. In case this is not possible, all members of the Technical Panel and the Referee for the respective discipline shall, whenever possible, be from ISU Members whose Skater(s) can reasonably be expected to place 1 – 5 in the respective discipline at the ISU Championships concerned.