The 58th ISU Ordinary Congress will take place in Phuket Thailand on June 6 – 10, 2022. Over 280 delegates are expected to meet at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, including ISU Office Holders and delegations from ISU Member Federations.
The Congress begins on June 6 with the usual Presidential and other Reports. Workshops are planned on the same day. On June 7-9, the full Congress and parallel Figure Skating and Speed Skating Branch sessions will then debate and vote on over 240 proposals. To conclude a plenary session with elections for the ISU President, Council members, Technical Committees and Disciplinary Commission will take place on Friday June 10.
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 – expect for Technical Rules that require a simple majority. The Elections will follow the procedure as per Article 30 of the ISU Constitution and General Regulations.
Urgent Matters can be submitted no later than three weeks before the Congress and shall be certified as urgent business by a four-fifths majority of ISU Members present and voting.
The ISU Congress will be available as a live stream on the Skating 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 6: Opening of the Congress / Workshops
June 7 – 9: Full Congress / Figure Skating and Speed Skating Branch Sessions
June 10: Full Congress and Elections
THE PROPOSALS
Some of the most important proposals are summarized below. The full agenda has been published in ISU Communication 2472 and a number of Urgent Matters will also be presented to the Congress as per ISU Communication 2481.
A number of Proposals featured in ISU Communication 2472 (including Proposal 22 – Age entry requirements for Competitions) have been in discussion since the preparation of the ISU Congress 2020 which was subsequently canceled due to the global pandemic. A Provisional Agenda was prepared and shared with ISU Members in January 2022 with the final version made publicly available on April 30, 2022.
All information regarding the 58th ISU Congress 2022 is available on https://www.isu.org/isu-congresses.
GENERAL
Protective measures provision - In view of the exceptional developments in Ukraine, the ISU Council had to use its authority under Article 17.1.q) of the ISU Constitution in order to guarantee the safety of participants and integrity of International Competitions as per ISU Communication 2469. However, the ISU Council concluded that similar circumstances might occur again in the future and that there should be a specific provision in the ISU Regulations defining the basic framework under which conditions the ISU Council will be empowered to impose protective measures. This will ensure that in the future and under similar circumstances, the ISU Council will be able to act swiftly within well-defined limits, known and accepted by the ISU Members. The proposed new provision will avoid the need to resort to the ISU Council’s extraordinary powers as per Article 17.1.q) of the Constitution for imposing protective measures in case of exceptional circumstances outside of the ISU’s Control defined in the first paragraph of the new provision (see Urgent Matter Proposal 2 ISU Communication 2481.
Role of the President – to include the approval of a Speed Skating Technical Expert and the appointment of the Sport Expert for the Olympic Winter Games and the Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Figure Skating Olympic Qualifying Competition – the event is currently a regular international competition. A proposal has been submitted to make the event an official ISU Event and therefore it would be included in the ISU calendar of Events.
Age entry requirements for Competitions – incrementally increase the minimum age limit (for senior Competitions) for both Figure Skating and Speed Skating Branches to 17 by the season 2024/25. A proposal to increase the age limit from 14 to 15 at the ISU World Junior Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating Championships is also included. See Proposal 22 for the full explanation and reason.
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.
SPEED SKATING
Entry quotas – Proposal that also adds results from ISU Championships and ISU Events other than World Cup Events may be included in the Special Qualification Ranking Lists determining entry quotas for ISU Championships. Adjusted definition of Special Qualification Ranking list to secure that the large majority of quota places will have to be qualified by regular participation in the top Speed Skating Events.
Sport Expert – Further specification of the duties of the Sport Expert, who shall support the Referee with the necessary documentation and the conduct of competitions. Appointment of Sport Expert at ISU Events to be approved by Speed Skating Technical Committee.
Arrangement of races and starting order – For consistency across all Championships.
SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING
Mixed Team Relay – Proposal to include the event in ISU Championships and Junior Championships.
Single Distances format – Remove the 3000m Super Final distance, consequently either removing the overall title or changing the calculation for the overall title.
Entry quotas - Defining new rules for entry quotas after the introduction of the Mixed Relay, including substitution, and to give more flexibility for the Single Distance title competitions.
ISU World Junior Championships – Change the standard program to four days instead of three days to increase the number of participants and allow the inclusion of Mixed Relay.
Video Replay reviews - Introduction of the possibility for a late review.
False Start Rule – Proposal to give a penalty already for the first False Start in a race. Consequently a Skater assessed with a False Start will be sent off the field of play and will not be permitted to go to the start again.
SINGLE AND PAIR SKATING / ICE DANCE
Panel of Judges – Proposal to change the composition of the panel of Judges to have two sub-panels. One focusing on the Technical Elements (GOE) and Skating Skills and the remaining Program Components assessed by a separate sub-panel of judges.
ISU Judging System – Proposals to adjust the component factors to balance out the Program Component score and the Total Elements Score.
Program Components – to introduce three Program Components: Composition, Presentation, and Skating Skills.
ISU World Figure Skating Championships format – Introduction of a qualification round at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships as of season 2024/25 (see Proposals 160,161, 204, 205).
Reverse Skating order – Formalize the reverse Skating order principle which has been used during the pandemic and has had no negative impact on the Competitors.
SYNCHRONIZED SKATING
Harmonization – Harmonize the Special Regulations and Technical Rules with other Figure Skating Disciplines.
Illegal Elements –The Illegal and Non-permitted terminology are combined and to be referred to as Illegal.
Choreography and originality – A number of proposals are put forward to help increase creativity and have more freedom within the choreography of Synchronized Skating programs.
CANDIDATES
For this election Congress, the list of nominees, grouped by elected positions, containing the names of the nominees and the nominators is now available following the submission deadline of April 25, 2022.
The candidates are presented per position and in alphabetical order. However, the sequence in which the candidates for the different positions will be presented during the elections will be drawn in the presence of the ISU auditor.
WHERE TO WATCH
The 58th Ordinary ISU Congress will be available as a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Further details will be provided in due course.