ISU Statement on Russia's war against Ukraine - Participation in international competitions of Skaters and Officials from Russia and Belarus

[Alilou]

@Pink Cats requested a list of points to make when contacting the ISU. Honestly it felt a little daunting as to what to say to them.

Several people have made some valid points as to why the ISU should continue to ban Russians, and I have started copy/pasting them into a document which I will distil down into the kind of points we could make in emails and their online contact page.

One point I would add is re their original reason for banning Russians and Belorussians - nothing has changed.

If anyone/everyone can share any single thing that we should mention to the ISU I'll put it all together into a (hopefully coherent) list.

Onward!

 

[coppertop1]

A good starting point would be that forcibly Ukrainian athletes to compete and be good sports with the Russians athletes would be cruel and disrespectful.

The skaters from the Team Event in Beijing still don't have their medals.

Blatantly disrespectful behaviour by fans and trolls (the ISU doesn't care, but I'm mentioning it anyway)

 

[On My Own]

@Pink Cats requested a list of points to make when contacting the ISU. Honestly it felt a little daunting as to what to say to them.

Several people have made some valid points as to why the ISU should continue to ban Russians, and I have started copy/pasting them into a document which I will distil down into the kind of points we could make in emails and their online contact page.

One point I would add is re their original reason for banning Russians and Belorussians - nothing has changed.

If anyone/everyone can share any single thing that we should mention to the ISU I'll put it all to gather into a (hopefully coherent) list.

Onward!

T/M's eyesore programs and @caseyedwards' love for them.

But tbh, I'd just start with the simple fact that they shouldn't admit Russians as long as their genocidal state funds them in the current situation.

I would not bring up doping (re: Beijing team medals), scoring, or Eteri. That has nothing to do with the war.

I would not make the mails emotional. It is easy to dismiss such mails.

I also still think it's better to write to your country's federation and NOC, so at least send three emails. And the campaign needs more reach than just FSU.

 

[airgelaal]

The Ukrainian Figure Skating Championship ended today. The best time, right? At a time when skaters all over the world competed for the national title, Ukraine was without electricity. Even now, not everyone was able to come. And I'm not talking about how comfortable the road was.
This is just one example.

But many people continue to talk only about the suffering of russian skaters.

 

[Alilou]

T/M's eyesore programs and @caseyedwards' love for them.

But tbh, I'd just start with the simple fact that they shouldn't admit Russians as long as their genocidal state funds them in the current situation.

I would not bring up doping (re: Beijing team medals), scoring, or Eteri. That has nothing to do with the war.

I would not make the mails emotional. It is easy to dismiss such mails.

I also still think it's better to write to your country's federation and NOC, so at least send three emails. And the campaign needs more reach than just FSU.

I like the idea of mentioning that they're state funded - ie no one can be neutral because of this.

Also agree it's important to make the emails calm, adult, non-emotional, rational.

Not sure I agree on leaving out the doping issue - in a general sense. It's a very good additional reason to continue banning Russians since the past slap-on-the-wrist way of dealing with their on-goinbg doping culture continues to have absolutely no affect. Once again the biggest story at the Beijing Olys was Russian doping. Needs to be worded right of course.

Def wouldn't mention scoring, Eteri, or team medals.

I agree - we def need to contact country federation, and NOC as well as ISU

Any ideas how to spread this beyond FSU?! Anyone?

 

[Karen-W]

I like the idea of mentioning that they're state funded - ie no one can be neutral because of this.

Also agree it's important to make the emails calm, adult, non-emotional, rational.

Not sure I agree on leaving out the doping issue - in a general sense. It's a very good additional reason to continue banning Russians since the past slap-on-the-wrist way of dealing with their on-goinbg doping culture continues to have absolutely no affect. Once again the biggest story at the Beijing Olys was Russian doping. Needs to be worded right of course.

Def wouldn't mention scoring, Eteri, or team medals.

I agree - we def need to contact country federation, and NOC as well as ISU

Any ideas how to spread this beyond FSU?! Anyone?

The doping needs to be left out of this. 1) The ban is for both Russian and Belarusian athletes, which leads to 2) while there are good reasons to believe that state-sponsored doping of Russian athletes is ongoing, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that Belarusian athletes are also subject to state-sponsored doping.

The doping really is a separate issue and previous state-sponsored doping issues with Russia have already gone before CAS. It has nothing to do with the IOC's initial decision to recommend banning the Russian & Belarusian athletes - the gross violation of the Olympic Truce and the invasion of Ukraine.

 

[Alilou]

The doping needs to be left out of this. 1) The ban is for both Russian and Belarusian athletes, which leads to 2) while there are good reasons to believe that state-sponsored doping of Russian athletes is ongoing, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that Belarusian athletes are also subject to state-sponsored doping.

The doping really is a separate issue and previous state-sponsored doping issues with Russia have already gone before CAS. It has nothing to do with the IOC's initial decision to recommend banning the Russian & Belarusian athletes - the gross violation of the Olympic Truce and the invasion of Ukraine.

Ok, got it. This is why I began the discussion - so we can get clear about what needs to be said, and what should be left out.

 

[On My Own]

Any ideas how to spread this beyond FSU?! Anyone?

I have mentioned getting someone to tweet this on a big twitter account. There it can gain traction, especially if skaters retweet it.

 

[Karen-W]

It makes me sick when I see how some people are trying so hard to bring back the russians.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1644987677626847232

There are some great questions the European Fencing Confederation is asking of FIE that should also be asked of the ISU in any letter-writing campaign...

a. Who determines whether an athlete from Russia or Belorussia meets the IOC definition of an Individual Neutral Athlete?
b. Is there a right of appeal against any determination and, if so, who has the right to appeal?
c. Who submits the names of Individual Neutral Athletes to the FIE for approval? Is it for the individual to do so or the relevant national federation?

Additionally, it touches upon quotas and rankings, both of which also exist in skating - we must ask, how will those be determined and who will make the determinations?

 

[Alilou]

I have mentioned getting someone to tweet this on a big twitter account. There it can gain traction, especially if skaters retweet it.

Yeah I know, and it's a great idea, but who?
The only person I thought of was Megan Duhamel on insta (just because she's the only skater I follow, and I don't follow anyone on twitter) but - I'd be shocked if anyone still active within the skating community would touch this. We all know how closed and insular the skating community is, and this is a bit of a hot potato. Shouldn't be but it is. We need someone not still deeply involved. I thought of Johnny but he's very much still involved in the sport.
We need someone with a large following who cares about skating, and about this issue.

 

[Vagabond]

Yeah I know, and it's a great idea, but who?

The United States Ambassador to Belize.

 

[Karen-W]

Yeah I know, and it's a great idea, but who?
The only person I thought of was Megan Duhamel on insta (just because she's the only skater I follow, and I don't follow anyone on twitter) but - I'd be shocked if anyone still active within the skating community would touch this. We all know how closed and insular the skating community is, and this is a bit of a hot potato. Shouldn't be but it is. We need someone not still deeply involved. I thought of Johnny but he's very much still involved in the sport.
We need someone with a large following who cares about skating, and about this issue.

I suspect that both Duhamel as well as Kaitlyn Weaver would be willing to share/tweet. Same with Adam Rippon and Ashley Wagner. All four have made no secret of their opinion about allowing Russians back in.

 

[Alilou]

I suspect that both Duhamel as well as Kaitlyn Weaver would be willing to share/tweet. Same with Adam Rippon and Ashley Wagner. All four have made no secret of their opinion about allowing Russians back in.

Ok, yay! You’re more optimistic than I am. Good!

 

[Karen-W]

Ok, yay! You’re more optimistic than I am. Good!

Duhamel signed the Canadian Olympian athletes open letter to the COC opposing the return of Russian & Belarusian athletes, and Weaver stated that she would have also signed had it been shared with her ahead of its publication, so I think there's valid reason to be optimistic.

 

[Alilou]

Duhamel signed the Canadian Olympian athletes open letter to the COC opposing the return of Russian & Belarusian athletes, and Weaver stated that she would have also signed had it been shared with her ahead of its publication, so I think there's valid reason to be optimistic.

Oh yeah, I remember that now.

 

[PRlady]

I like the idea of mentioning that they're state funded - ie no one can be neutral because of this.

Also agree it's important to make the emails calm, adult, non-emotional, rational.

Not sure I agree on leaving out the doping issue - in a general sense. It's a very good additional reason to continue banning Russians since the past slap-on-the-wrist way of dealing with their on-goinbg doping culture continues to have absolutely no affect. Once again the biggest story at the Beijing Olys was Russian doping. Needs to be worded right of course.

Def wouldn't mention scoring, Eteri, or team medals.

I agree - we def need to contact country federation, and NOC as well as ISU

Any ideas how to spread this beyond FSU?! Anyone?

I’m out of the PR campaign business but would suggest that social media is the best route for grassroots support. But you will need to look beyond the obvious suspects. Kwan can’t get involved as her job is to serve US interests as defined by the State Department; unless they tell/let her voice her thoughts she would have to stay out of it.

Pressure points should include NBC, which has a financial interest, journalists who either cover the sport or have been covering the world’s response to Ukraine and, believe it or not, Congresspeople and Senators on appropriate committees if you are their constituent. More on that last one tomorrow.

 

[Alilou]

Been talking to Mr Alilou. Research is his game. His comments - this issue has a very high profile worldwide at the highest levels of govt. Thirty countries have asked the IOC to clarify how they would determine a neutral athlete for instance. He read a bunch of stuff.

ASOIF is ready to cooperate with the IOC on the neutral status of athletes of the Russian Federation - News Unrolled

ASOIF is ready to cooperate with the IOC on the admission of athletes from Russia and BelarusMOSCOW, March 3 - RIA Novosti. The Council of the International Association of Summer Olympic Federations (ASOIF) is ready to cooperate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and national Olympic...

newsunrolled.com

On January 25, the IOC Executive Committee called for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to international competitions in neutral status, while proposing that athletes who actively support special operations in Ukraine should not be allowed. The governments of more than 30 countries, including the US, UK, France, Canada and Germany, have asked the IOC to clarify the definition of “neutrality” in connection with the possible admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the 2024 Olympic Games.

I remember reading this here before, but it's good to be reminded of it.

 

[Alilou]

I suspect that both Duhamel as well as Kaitlyn Weaver would be willing to share/tweet. Same with Adam Rippon and Ashley Wagner. All four have made no secret of their opinion about allowing Russians back in.

What do we get them to tweet? And how? The suggestion to email the ISU? I barely use twitter.

 

[Karen-W]

What do we get them to tweet? And how? The suggestion to email the ISU? I barely use twitter.

I don't use twitter much either, but I think DMing them using either twitter or IG would be the best way to start.

First of all, we need to have our bullet points list of points to hit in any letter-writing campaign as well as the points of contact - ISU, the national federations, etc, and targeting some of the "major" FS media (TSL, AnythingGOEs, The Salchows, Jackie Wong, SkatingKor, Ice-Dance.Com, A Divine Sport, etc) and inviting them to share the campaign would be excellent. Almost all of the national federations have a social media presence and it's pretty easy to tag those accounts in your own tweets, stories and posts. Even if they don't share those tweets/posts themselves, they'll still get the message about how fans feel if they're deluged.

It is pretty easy to create simple graphics that can be re-shared by others and a basic blog page could be created with links for easy access to your own national federation, etc.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I don't use twitter much either, but I think DMing them using either twitter or IG would be the best way to start.

this sounds like a job for ANL‘s fax machine

 

[Karen-W]

this sounds like a job for ANL‘s fax machine

LOL - well, I've already started a Google Sheets doc for all of the contact info for the feds and ISU. The ISU's "print member federations" list doesn't provide the social media accounts, plus their website is outdated with some of the links - I've only made it through the "A"s and... yikes.

 

[Alilou]

LOL - well, I've already started a Google Sheets doc for all of the contact info for the feds and ISU. The ISU's "print member federations" list doesn't provide the social media accounts, plus their website is outdated with some of the links - I've only made it through the "A"s and... yikes.

Omg thank you! I used to be good at this kind of thing but now I just feel overwhelmed. Still, I will get to that list of talking points for an email, and will help with anything else if I'm give very specific directions

 

[PRlady]

The US is weird in the sense that there’s no equivalent for a Minister of Sports, but most countries have them. In the US there’s a Foreign Relations subcommittee on global NGOs and Human Rights that is probably the right address; I asked my neighbor who’s in gov affairs and she concurs. Incidentally @Karen-W your Senator Merkley sponsored the 2014 resolution on LGBT rights in Russia in runup to Sochi so he looks like a particularly good target. https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-resolution/311/text

 

[Karen-W]

Omg thank you! I used to be good at this kind of thing but now I just feel overwhelmed. Still, I will get to that list of talking points for an email, and will help with anything else if I'm give very specific directions

We can do this together! I'm more on IG these days than FB or Twitter, so I'm easily able to pull up the feds that I already follow there and searching for others... Through the "B"s!

 

[Karen-W]

The US is weird in the sense that there’s no equivalent for a Minister of Sports, but most countries have them. In the US there’s a Foreign Relations subcommittee on global NGOs and Human Rights that is probably the right address; I asked my neighbor who’s in gov affairs and she concurs. Incidentally @Karen-W your Senator Merkley sponsored the 2014 resolution on LGBT rights in Russia in Rubio to Sochi so he looks like a particularly good target. https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-resolution/311/text

Thanks for the tip! That's a really good idea to add to the contacts list.

Is there someone who wants to tackle that part of this? I'm happy to share the list for editing with anyone who sends me a PM.

 

[PRlady]

Thanks for the tip! That's a really good idea to add to the contacts list.

Is there someone who wants to tackle that part of this? I'm happy to share the list for editing with anyone who sends me a PM.

I’ll post the links to House and Senate committee members tomorrow.

 

[Karen-W]

I’ll post the links to House and Senate committee members tomorrow.

Great! I think Merkley and Rubio are definitely the ones to target in the US. They've both been pretty consistent in their support of Ukraine and in calling attention to the human rights violations in Russia for the last decade.

 

[babayaga]

The Ukrainian Figure Skating Championship ended today. The best time, right? At a time when skaters all over the world competed for the national title, Ukraine was without electricity. Even now, not everyone was able to come. And I'm not talking about how comfortable the road was.
This is just one example.

But many people continue to talk only about the suffering of russian skaters.

It's like russians are being treated as people who cannot be held responsible for anything bad. Who cannot be put through any kind of discomfort. God forbid they have to make an uncomfortable choice and held accountable for it.
I start to think that this special treatment by the world is what enables them to commit all these atrocities. Because they know they will be excused anyway. And pitied. And comforted as true victims, unlike those they murdered.

 

[PRlady]

Great! I think Merkley and Rubio are definitely the ones to target in the US. They've both been pretty consistent in their support of Ukraine and in calling attention to the human rights violations in Russia for the last decade.

It’s a shame Tom Malinowski lost his seat, he headed Human Rights at State under Obama and was reliable on this kind of issue. But here’s a letter from Senators concerned about the 2014 issue; most of them are still in Congress. (Since it’s an LGBT issue, these are Dems, but on the broader issue of Russian participation there should be plenty of R’s as well.) https://transgenderlawcenter.org/archives/9401

ETA: Here you go, John Thune, although I don’t know of any of us from South Dakota. https://www.espn.co.uk/olympics/story/_/id/16372472/senator-john-thune-pressing-wada-response-russia

 

[Karen-W]

ETA: Here you go, John Thune, although I don’t know of any of us from South Dakota. https://www.espn.co.uk/olympics/story/_/id/16372472/senator-john-thune-pressing-wada-response-russia

It's a shame that Leah Neset is from NORTH Dakota, lol.