ISU

Considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and - despite the ongoing vaccination campaigns - the continued critical developments world-wide and the travel and entry restrictions and quarantine requirements for Thailand and other countries, 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 COVID-19 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 and that the 2021 ISU Congress must therefore be cancelled.

The ISU Council had considered holding the 2021 ISU Congress virtually/online. However, the ISU Council acknowledged that the ISU Constitution, in particular Article 10, paragraphs 3-5, does not include such a provision. Furthermore, also taking into account the reported experiences of virtual Congresses held by other international organizations, the ISU Council noted that only a very limited number of agenda items (generally fewer than 10) could be debated and decided during such on-line Congresses, that the interventions of participating delegates were very limited and that the level of the debates was not at all comparable with an on-site Congress. The Council also considered that due to global time differences, the time window for conducting a virtual ISU Congress involving ISU Members from Oceania to the American Pacific west coast is limited to only a few hours per day and that consequently conducting the ISU Congress including over 300 Proposals would last for more than one week. The ISU Council therefore concluded that a virtual ISU Congress shall not be pursued.

The ISU Council, in line with Article 10, paragraph 4 of the ISU Constitution, consequently decided to ask ISU Members for a mail vote on the Proposals on the Agenda that "the ISU Council considers urgent and essential for the correct administration of the ISU". Last year, after the cancellation of the 2020 ISU Congress only the Minutes of the previous Congress, the financial statements and the Budget were considered as urgent and essential. However, the situation has evolved and now the pandemic development will lead to a four-year interval between full Congresses. This means that a number of urgent and essential as well as drafting/clarification motions have accumulated. The ISU Council therefore decided that besides the 2020 financial statements and the 2021-2022 Budget, some Proposals from ISU Members, the Technical Committees and the Council will also be submitted to a mail vote by ISU Members.