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

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Pozdnyakov presents special Russian Olympic Committee award to country's army club (April 29):
If the IOC continues to insist that Russian athletes competing internationally should have not ties to the armed forces, then CSKA athletes will be ruled out, representing a rich seam of potential Olympics at Paris next year.
Pozdnyakov, though, is continuing to advocate a leading role for CSKA in Russian sport.
"One hundred years is a very beautiful figure, but it is rather a reason to multiply efforts, because in the conditions of the modern turbulent world we need to focus on ourselves," Pozdnyakov, currently lobbying the IOC to relax its conditions for Russian athletes to compete, told TASS.
"We need to work on ourselves and on future generations. I would like the existing club's sports infrastructure, its coaching potential worked for the future not only of the army, but of all Russian sports.
"I am sure that these turbulent times will pass, and we need to be prepared for this so that red, blue [colours of the Russian flag] is the strongest again."
 
"I am sure that these turbulent times will pass, and we need to be prepared for this so that red, blue [colours of the Russian flag] is the strongest again."

:rolleyes:

Rather than preparing for an eventuality, he should work to bring it about by agitating for peace and the restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty.
 
Very neutral russian sport


From thw grid

the TV version of the event starts with Shoigu's speech. He wishes "all of us new victories, new achievements for the Good of the Fatherland" & presents Nevsky award to the sports club "for services in strengthening the defense capability & international credibility of Russia"
Shoigu, who's responsible for the ongoing war against Ukrainian people, sits 2 meters from Pozdnyakov Other former/active CSKA athletes & coaches, military personnel and "international guests" are there too: Egorian, Velikaya, Kondratyuk, Sotnikova, Belyavskiy...

And the cherry on the cake

 
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Oh... there is more heroin (=propaganda) than in the worst soviet times!! a complete brain washing! targeted, very well tailored psychologically and in all other levels. All oxigen for the freedom of thought is taken away in advance.
 
Have we already discussed Eteri's new project? I mean Global Skating Academy.
...
Turkish federation's website - New Season Preparations Started (May 2, 2023):

One of the leading trainers of Figure Skating, Ms. Eteri Tutberidze and her team are in Gebze, Kocaeli for the preparations for the new season.

Our athletes Burak DEMİRBOĞA, Ali Efe GÜNEŞ, Anna Deniz ÖZDEMİR, Selin AKBULUT, Mehmet Cenkay KARLIKLI and Furkan Emre İNCEL started their preparations for the new season in the camp organized by Eteri and his team in Gebze between 01 - 07 May 2023.

We wish our athletes success during the camp.


Group photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CrvX5s3Ip_g/
 
I didn't see this March 24th Deutsche Welle article in English posted during Worlds:
Excerpts:
Despite such comments, last September, six months after the full-scale invasion, Russia's Figure Skating Federation announced that 19 athletes applied to switch federations. Given that this doesn't include those who don't belong to the federation, the real number of athletes who left or are planning to flee is even higher.
The war against Ukraine and ensuing sanctions on Russian sports might have played a significant role in skaters' decision to give up their citizenship.
"Athletes are young people of conscription age. Would they benefit from getting to the front in the assault units near Ugledar or straight to the next world? I don't think so," famous Russian Olympic sportscaster Kirill Nabutov said.
"Do athletes profit from moping around their local rinks in St Petersburg, Moscow or Novosibirsk realizing how short their sporting life is without having a chance to take part in international competitions? The answer is no," he added.
Most athletes themselves don't admit they have escaped Russia because of the war. The departure of 17-year-old Marya Dmitrieva, who can land a triple axel, caused a stir in the sports press last August.
The teenager holds dual Russian-Israeli citizenship but only decided to move to Israel with her mother last year. In an interview with DW, she insists that it was her family's love for the Middle Eastern country and not sanctions against Russia that motivated them to move.
Mariia Dmitrieva's ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00115243.htm
 
Alexandra Nazarova's Instagram post today (I've copied out her first 2 paragraphs below since I noticed her account may be set to private at this time): https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr0_zBTo8oRtCDDr5SRNYktiP9M8ged2PspMuE0/

I would like to announce that I will be working with the Figure Skating team of Istanbul. It has come to my attention that the team of Eteri Tutberidze will also be in Turkey at the same time as me. As a Ukrainian, I want to make clear it that I have nothing to do with their presence here. The club of Istanbul is not related to Eteri Tutberidze in any way and does not approve of any actions taken by the Russian Figure Skating federation and their none [non?] actions toward their government.

I want to make it clear that I do not support the Russian Figure Skating Federation, and I condemn their presence here as well. I strongly disagree with their actions towards my country. I will not be working with them during their training camp, and they will never be near or around me. [...]
 
I think that soon we will find out that the skaters have nothing to do with CSKA. Because Russian documents are the most honest documents in the world.
"The findings concluded that with the athletes there was no evidence to be found of any pro war propaganda on any of their social media and we have received working certificates of employment showing that from 2020 until recently that all the people who are athletes are employed by the Federal Training Center," said Marinescu.
 
They are working in the right direction... After all, the most important thing is not to protect the victims of aggression, but to reward those who support aggression.
"Now we are undertaking all the efforts to accomplish the mission, offer of the Olympic Movement by having athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports back into the international competitions," Bach said.
 
They are working in the right direction... After all, the most important thing is not to protect the victims of aggression, but to reward those who support aggression.

"I see that the governments, it's their right to express their position," Bach said. "But that they also realize that any kind of boycott would only punish their own athletes and would deprive their people to be proud of their athletes of their Olympic performances."
This is much worse...
 
Bumping this thread up to urge people to email 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


The names of the council members and the email addresses of their respective NGB's are public and are listed here:

ISU Council Contacts


Although this list includes links to their SM I think it's probably best to contact them in a more formal way. Some of their SM is obviously personal FB, insta, etc, so emailing their NGB may be a best way to begin to get their attention.

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.
 
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.
thank you - just sent a bunch of emails with a slightly different text - but this helped a lot!

I hope more people follow suit.
 
These people are driving me crazy. Their obsession with including Russian and Belarus athletes is beyond unseemly. Their values and morals are extremely suspect.
Yeah, no kidding. I always come back to follow the money.

Okay doing a little rant here: I know people involved in FS as dedicated fans, very well known, highly respected, who nevertheless feel the need to be anonymous, will not speak out, will not openly support us, even though they've privately said they do. I suspect there are many like this, both fans and those involved in the sport as officials/coaches/skaters/etc.

I listened to a recent podcast with Megan Duhamel and she talked about how, being in a judged sport, they're trained from very young to not speak out, not rock the boat. IMO this permeates the entire sport

She also said whenever she asked why things went the way they did the answer was always the same: we mustn't upset the Russians. She didn't say that she was told why.

The only answer I can come up with is follow the money.
 
Thank you for everything shared, @Alilou and @Karen-W and others. I fired off a ton of emails this afternoon.

I'm so frustrated with this situation. It's bad enough people still give Russian skaters the time of day/any attention currently. This sport will NOT be the same if they're welcomed back too early.
 
Thank you for everything shared, @Alilou and @Karen-W and others. I fired off a ton of emails this afternoon.

I'm so frustrated with this situation. It's bad enough people still give Russian skaters the time of day/any attention currently. This sport will NOT be the same if they're welcomed back too early.
Thank you! 👍🤗
 
If Russian skaters do come back i hope they and their coaches get booed out of the arenas.
Well, Worlds will be in Canada and the Canadians crowd has never been shy about theirs displeasure
And what if it's a skater/team that is well-liked and has managed to stay relatively neutral throughout all of this?

At most, the Russians should only have one spot in each discipline anyways in the event that do somehow get back into competition.
 
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