Seville, Spain

 Sevilla ISU congress 2018

 

The 57th ISU Ordinary Congress will take place in Seville Spain on June 4 – 8, 2018. Over 350 delegates are expected to meet at the Barcelo Renacimiento, including ISU Office Holders and delegations from ISU Member Federations.

The Congress begins on June 4 with the usual Presidential and other Reports. Workshops are planned on the same day, while full Congress and parallel Figure Skating and Speed Skating Branch sessions to debate and vote on the over 400 proposals presented are planned on June 5 - 8. To conclude a plenary session with elections for the ISU President, Council members, Technical Committees and Disciplinary Commission will take place on Friday June 8.

Joint ISU Members for Figure Skating and Speed Skating have two votes on each proposal dealt with in the plenary session, whereas ISU Members for Figure Skating or Speed Skating alone are entitled to one vote. Proposals require a two-thirds majority of ISU Members in favor in order to be accepted. The Elections will follow the procedure as per Article 29 of the ISU Constitution and General Regulations.

For the first time the ISU Congress will be available as a live stream on the ISU YouTube Channel. Viewers will be able to follow the Congress sessions, Figure Skating and Speed Skating Sessions and the Elections live. Further information will be available closer to the date.

Congress Program

June 4: Opening of the Congress / Workshops

June 5 – 7: Full Congress / Figure Skating and Speed Skating Branch Sessions

June 8: Full Congress and Elections

 

THE PROPOSALS

Some of the most important proposals are summarized below. The full agenda has been published in ISU Communication 2156 and a number of Urgent Matters will also be presented to the Congress in ISU Communication 2160. All information regarding the 57th ISU Congress 2018 is available on https://www.isu.org/isu-congresses.

 

GENERAL

Eligibility Rules – based on the decision of the European Commission in December 2017, the ISU legal case team prepared and the Council approved a number of proposals to adjust relevant rules with a focus on ensuring a consistent and fair enforcement of the ISU Eligibility Rules and the proportionality of the applicable sanctions for infringement of the related Rules.

Officials – rule changes to avoid conflicts of interest and the appearance of national bias of Officials at ISU Championships, ISU International Competitions and the Olympic Winter Games.

Athletes Commission – restructuring, defining and separating the roles of the Athletes Commission and of the Skater Representatives on the Technical Committees in order to provide continuity and experience to the Technical Committee membership.

Congress Procedures – amendments to the Procedural Rules to replace “Call to Order” and make the procedures of the Congress more efficient and in line with Swiss law.

Field of play decisions – clarifications of the procedures relating to the field of play decisions and requirements for filing protests.

Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating Championships – proposal to create ISU Four Continents Championships for Speed Skating and for Short Track Speed Skating.

Medal Ceremonies – proposal to align the ISU medal ceremony with the International Olympic Committee protocol by awarding athletes in the following order bronze, silver and gold

 

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SPEED SKATING

Championships – proposal to have only one ISU World Speed Skating Championships per season as from 2021.

Entries for ISU Championships – Entry quotas for ISU Championships to be achieved through ISU World Cup Competitions during the same season.

Racing suits – In order to protect the skaters against injury, Speed Skaters must wear racing suits made of cut resistant material from season 2020/21.

Arrangement of races and starting order – Simplification of the draw procedures

Racing rules – Clarification of the procedure of overtaking

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SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

Officials – revisit the training and education process of Short Track Speed Skating Officials in order to provide them with better access to information and better support.

Competition formats - change the ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships into a single distances format. As a general rule change, adjust the promotion procedure in order to have a fixed number of skaters per race at all ISU Events.

New Olympic event – proposal for a mixed gender team event to be included in the Olympic Winter Games program.

Padding and safety – introduce the mandatory use of movable or hybrid padding systems at all ISU Events.

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SINGLE AND PAIR SKATING / ICE DANCE

Pair Skating – increase the number of qualified Pairs for the Free Program, from 16 to 20, at ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Short Dance – Change the name of the segment from “Short Dance” to “Rhythm Dance”.

Grade of Execution (GoE) – increase the scoring range from 7 to 11 with the introduction of a wider Grade of Execution score from -3 / +3 to -5 / +5.

Jumps – In order to have more varied Programs and to give credit to Skaters that can perform different quad jumps, any quad jump can be performed only once in a Free Skating Program.

Illegal Elements/Movements – in order to eliminate unnecessary restrictions, the list would consist of only two such elements: somersault type jumps and lifts with wrong holds.

Jump Sequences: a proposed new definition: a jump sequence consists of 2 (two) jumps of any number of revolutions, beginning with any jump, immediately followed by an Axel type jump with a direct step from the landing curve of the first jump to the take-off curve of the Axel jump.

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SYNCHRONIZED SKATING

Harmonization – harmonize the Special Regulations and Technical Rules with other Figure Skating Disciplines.

Olympic Winter Games – a number of Proposals are included in the case that Synchronized Skating is accepted as a new Olympic discipline.