The ISU Council met on March 2, 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
a) ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021
The Council confirmed that the ISU World Figure Skating Championships remain scheduled as planned, to be held in Stockholm, Sweden on March 22-28, 2021.
b) World Team Trophy 2021
Subject to the timely lifting of the state of emergency by the Japanese authorities and related confirmation that no quarantine for the participants shall apply, the Council acknowledged that the ISU World Team Trophy will take place on April 15-18, 2021 in Osaka,
2. Allotment of ISU Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2022
In accordance with Rule 127 of the ISU Regulations, the Council has allotted the following 2022 Championships:
ISU Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships to be held in Salt Lake City, USA on January 14-16, 2022
3. ISU World Cup Short Track Calendar 2021/22
The Council approved the ISU World Cup Short Track Calendar for the season 2021/22 as follows:
October 21-24, 2021 Beijing, CHN – OWG Test Event
October 28-31, 2021 Nagoya, JPN
November 18-21, 2021 Debrecen, HUN
November 25-28, 2021 Dordrecht, NED
These Events are all Qualifying Competitions for the Olympic Winter Games 2022.
4. ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Calendar season 2021/22 entry quotas
Further to the cancellation of the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2021, the Council confirmed that the results of the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2020, which were held in Tallinn, Estonia, shall be the basis for establishing the entry quotas to the Junior Grand Prix Events 2021/22.
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5. Continued validity of ISU Communications for Synchronized Skating for season 2021/22
The Council decided that the following ISU Communications relating to Synchronized Skating shall remain valid for the Season 2021/22:
Communication No. 2236 – Well balanced Program content Season 2019/20
Communication No. 2238 – Guidelines for International Novice Competitions and Well-Balanced Program Requirements
Communication No. 2322 – Synchronized Skating Scale of Values.
6. Synchronized Skating age limit exception Season 2021/22
In Communication 2316 it was announced that the Council had decided in line with Article 17.1.q), that exceptionally, for the 2020/21 season for Synchronized Skating, the Novice and Junior upper age limits would be extended by one year.
Due to the lack of opportunity to practice normally, and the lack of a competitive season 2020/21 the Council decided to renew the age limit exemption for Synchronized Skating for the Novice/ Junior category for the 2021/22 season. Athletes who have already benefited from the age limit exemption for the 2020/21 season will not be able to benefit from this new exemption.
If a Junior or Novice Team changes Skater(s), the new Skater(s) must be of the Junior/Novice age according to Rule 108, paragraph 4 of the 2018 ISU General Regulations. ISU Members with Novice and/or Junior Synchronized Teams opting for such extension of the Novice or Junior upper age limit must send a corresponding request to the Chair of the Synchronized Skating Technical Committee in order to obtain a certificate confirming the exception for the Team concerned.
7. ISU Congress 2021 Cancellation
Considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and, despite the ongoing vaccination campaigns, the continued critical development world-wide and the travel and entry restrictions and quarantine requirements in particular but not limited to Thailand, the ISU Council has concluded that maintaining the 2021 ISU Congress on the planned dates of May 31-June 4, 2021 is no longer an option. The same applies to a short-term postponement until later in the summer of 2021 since the ISU Council cannot reasonably count on a sufficient improvement of the pandemic situation by then and it would also involve many logistical challenges such as hotel rebooking etc. Finally, the ISU Council agreed that holding an ISU Congress during an ongoing season (September – April) with many potential delegates being busy at events does not seem feasible and it would be difficult to implement rule changes during an ongoing season. The Council therefore decided to cancel the 2021 Congress.
ISU Members will be informed shortly through a Circular Letter about the applicable procedures in case of a cancellation of a Congress in line with the ISU Constitution, Article 10, paragraphs 3-5.
Since the 2021 Congress will not be held as planned and in order to mitigate the potential loss of hotel and travel reservation deposits, the Council decided to hold the 2022 ISU Congress in Phuket/Thailand instead of Las Vegas/USA as previously announced. The dates of the 2022 ISU Congress remain unchanged, namely June 6-10, 2022. The ISU Congress hotel in Phuket has confirmed that all ISU and ISU Member deposits made for the 2020 respectively 2021 Congress remain valid for a 2022 edition of the Congress.
8. Olympic Winter Games 2022 Beijing - Qualification System Figure Skating
The Council noted that almost all ISU Members that have Skaters qualified for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 have confirmed the entry of the Skaters to the Championships. The Council consequently confirmed the already published Olympic Winter Games 2022 Beijing - Qualification System Figure Skating, based on the results of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 and the results of the Senior International Qualification Competition the Nebelhorn Trophy 2021, to be held on September 22-25, 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany.
9. ISU Council meetings
The next online Council meeting is scheduled for April 8, 2021.