Time to send those emails to the ISU council members to uphold the ban of Russian and Belarusian skaters.
I sent the following email to each member of the council:
Because the emails are going to the public NGB email address I am sending each email separately so in each case I can make the
subject line:
Attention Mr/Ms <name of council member>: re skaters from Russia and Belarus
Please feel free to simply copy/paste my email. I don't think it matters. What matters is the number of people voicing their concerns even it all comes with the same wording. Or of course you may want to make changes or write your own.
Anyway here's the email I sent:
Dear Mr Kim/Mr Espeli/Ms Samaranch/etc (Whether they are male or female is pretty obvious. The Japanese member is a man)
I am contacting you with my concerns about re-admitting Russian and Belarusian athletes to ISU competitions.
The original reason for the ban was Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine, a sovereign nation. This situation has not changed, therefore these athletes should still be banned.
Russia continues to violate the concept of fair play through its unprovoked attack on Ukraine, thus sabotaging another member nation's ability to compete in the sport, and endangering the lives of this nation’s athletes.
Who determines whether an athlete from Russia or Belarus meets the IOC definition of an Individual Neutral Athlete? What does neutral mean - that the athlete is neither for nor against the war? All Russian athletes are state-funded and cannot, therefore, be neutral.
As you can see I have grave concerns about this situation. It seems clear-cut to me that nothing has changed, and that to speak of "neutral" athletes makes a mockery of all that Ukraine has endured.
Finally, given the aggressive behaviour of some fans from the Russian diaspora at recent sporting events, can you guarantee the security and safety of Ukrainian, and Ukrainian-born skaters who represent other countries, or of the many other skaters who have expressed vocal, sustained support for the Ukrainian cause? Will these skaters be safe at ISU events if Russian and Belarusian athletes are permitted to compete?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely
Your name here
And just to make it really easy for you here is the list of email addresses. The email addresses are for the relevant NGBs
[email protected] Jae Youl Kim Korea
[email protected] Tron Espeli Norway
[email protected] Benoit Lavoie Canada
[email protected] Sergio Anesi Italy
[email protected] Gyorgy Elek Hungary
[email protected] Albert Hazelhoff Netherlands
[email protected] Tatsuro Matsumura Japan
[email protected] Eric Radford Canada
[email protected] Susanna Rakhamo Finland
[email protected] Patricia St. Peter United States
[email protected] Maria Teresa Samaranch Spain
[email protected] Suwanna Silpa-Archa Thailand
[email protected] Stoytcho Stoytchev Bulgaria
Even sending one email to one council member might help. We know Canada, US, and Finland will likely vote to uphold the ban so write to any/all of the others.
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matter. The ISU might be trying to hold off doing anything decisive because a particularly damning judgment might override considerations about the war.
