The ISU Council met on January 28, 2021 via an online meeting. The following were among the decisions taken by the Council during the meeting.
1. ISU Event Calendar Season 2020/21
Subject to further pandemic-related developments, the ISU Council confirmed the following decisions:
a) New ISU Event cancellations
Due to the ongoing pandemic and detrimental consequences for the organizing and participating ISU Members, including organizational issues, travel restrictions, lack of training and preparation time and finally the confirmation from many ISU Members that they would not be able to attend, the Council decided that the the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2021, scheduled to be held in Zagreb (CRO) on April 9-10, 2021 are cancelled.
b) ISU Events 2021
The Council confirmed that the other pending ISU Events of the 2020/21 season remain scheduled as planned, subject to pandemic developments and no quarantine requirements and/or prohibitive / extensive entry restrictions:
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the second ISU Speed Skating World Cup (January 29-31, 2021) and the ISU World Speed Skating Championships (February 11-14, 2021) within the Heerenveen competition bubble in the Netherlands are continuing as planned
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the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating World Championships remain scheduled as planned, to be held on March 5-7, 2021 in Dordrecht, the Netherlands
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the ISU World Figure Skating Championships remain scheduled as planned, to be held in Stockholm, Sweden on March 22-28, 2021. Since these Championships serve as a Qualification Competition for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, the Council will review the Olympic Qualification status at its next meeting. Depending on the actual entries received by the deadline of March 1, 2021, the ISU Council will evaluate and decide at that time whether and which changes to the Olympic qualification system could be necessary.
c) Ratification of previously announced ISU Event allotment changes and cancellations
The ISU Council ratified the decisions announced in the ISU press release of January 15, 2021, namely:
The ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships 2021 in Hachinohe City, JPN, scheduled on February 19-21, 2021 are cancelled.
2. ISU Event Calendar Season 2021/22
Based on information received from the Austria Speed Skating Association, the Council decided to change the dates of the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships 2022. Accordingly, the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships 2022 will be held in Innsbruck, Austria on January 28-30, 2022.
3. ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Calendar season 2021/22
The Council approved the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Calendar for the season 2021/22 as follows:
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Skate America: October 22-24, 2021 TBA, USA
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Skate Canada International: October 29-31, 2021 Vancouver, BC, CAN
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Cup of China November: 5-7, 2021 Chongqing, CHN
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NHK Trophy November: 12-14, 2021 TBA, JPN
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Internationaux de France: November 19-21, 2021 Grenoble, FRA
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Rostelecom Cup: November 26-28, 2021 Moscow, RUS
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ISU Grand Prix Final: December 9-12, 2021 Osaka, JPN
4. Test Events for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Beijing
The ISU Council acknowledged that the previously cancelled Test Events have now been rescheduled to be held in the Olympic venues in Beijing as follows:
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International Speed Skating Competition - October 8-10, 2021
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Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy - October 13-17, 2021
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ISU World Cup Short Track - October 21-24, 2021
Detailed information/Announcements will follow in due course.
5. ISU Congress 2021
The Council is closely following the pandemic situation and associated travel restrictions in Thailand and around the world and a decision about a possible cancellation of the ISU Congress 2021 will be taken at the next Council meeting in early March. In case the 2021 Congress would have to be cancelled, the Council would also decide at that time on whether a mail vote on certain motions would be arranged and/or whether a virtual Congress would be held.
6. ISU Council meetings
The next online Council meeting is scheduled for March 2, 2021.