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ISU cancels Russian stage of 2022/2023 Grand Prix of Figure Skating series

On February 28, IOC issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments referring to a special military operation in Ukraine

© Alexander Demianchuk/TASS

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. The Council of the International Skating Union (ISU) has canceled Russia’s stage of the 2022/2023 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series, the ISU press office announced in a statement on Monday.

"Until further notice no International Competitions shall be held in Russia and Belarus," the statement reads. "Consequently, the Rostelecom Cup 2022 in Figure Skating will not be included in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series of the season 2022/23."

"ISU Members interested in hosting the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event scheduled on November 25-27, 2022, are requested to contact the ISU Sports Director Figure Skating, Ms. Patricia Mayor …, by May 6, 2022 in order to obtain the necessary details enabling them to submit an application to the ISU," according to the statement.

Alexander Kogan, the director general of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR), told TASS commenting on the ISU decision that foreign figure skaters always returned positive remarks about the outstanding organization of sports tournaments on the territory of Russia.

"Speaking about the Russian stage of the Grand Prix in Russia I should say it’s rather about a postponement and not cancellation," Kogan said in an interview with TASS. "It is very disappointing that there will be no [2022 ISU Figure Skating] Grand Prix in Russia this year."

"I am unable to say at the moment who would suffer the most from this decision, because foreign athletes may suffer as well," Kogan continued. "They [foreign athletes] had previously expressed utterly positive remarks about the organization of tournaments in our country."

On February 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments referring to a special military operation in Ukraine.

Following the IOC recommendations in late February, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

On March 1, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced a decision to provisionally suspend all athletes from Russia and Belarus. The suspension was enforced in regard to figure skating, speed skating and short-track speed skating competitions. Russia was scheduled to host 2022 ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix on November 25-27.

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