CHELYABINSK, December 20, Andrey Simonenko. Question on the admission of Russians figure skaters are being promoted to international competitions, acting head of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) Anton Sikharulidze told reporters.
Russians and Belarusians have been suspended by the International Skating Union (ISU) from participating in international tournaments since March 2022. The ISU Council in June upheld this suspension, but decided to study ways to implement the decision of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee, which in March 2023 recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to participate in international competitions in a neutral status, subject to a number of conditions.
«»It would be logical to address the question to the ISU. We are open, ready to participate in any competitions of any age. We are in contact with the ISU, Alexander Ilyich (Kogan) and I had interaction, discussed for about 30 minutes how to solve problems. Without Russian athletes in all types of figure skating is not so rich. The ISU itself, as well as foreign coaches and specialists, speak about the fact that figure skating is losing without Russian guys. The flavor that wrestling added is now gone, and then it drags a chain of problems, including both with sponsors and with development,” Sikharulidze said at a press conference before the start of the Russian Championship.
The acting president of the FFKKR believes that due to the absence of Russians, interest in figure skating is decreasing.
“We are ready for dialogue and ways to resolve this issue, we are open to interaction with the ISU, when they finally wake up, we’ll see, but in their sleep they started muttering something. The situation is moving forward, we hope that very soon we «We will enjoy world figure skating again. But at the same time, I can’t say that holding the Grand Prix stages and other interesting competitions, we suffer so much. We have found ourselves in the current conditions, we are creating conditions for the guys so that their level grows and life is exciting . they are definitely not deprived of tournaments and are not deprived of rewards for victories. Thanks to the sponsors that we have the opportunity to support our athletes. Talking with them, I don’t see sadness, melancholy and sadness. Yes, the international situation is interesting and varied, but we found a way out from the situation,” added Sikharulidze.