Are there ways in which figure skating fans can come together to put pressure on the ISU to finally clean up the corruption?
The following information is provided solely as an information resource for our readers. ISIO is not involved in any protest activites nor in any protest activities planned by other organizations or individuals.
There are several ways individuals can express their opinions on the subject of the ISU, ethics, and the proposed scoring system.
Currently, a protest is planned to take place outside the arena during the World Championships, which will be held the last week of March. Motivated individuals who can get to DC can participate in this protest. Details about the planning of the demonstration and other protest activities can be found at www.skatefair.com
At this time the ISU president is slated to be the ISU representative to the World Championships. I would not be surprised if the fans in Washington do what the fans did at Worlds in Canada several years ago. Over a controversy involving professional Kurt Browning skating during the exhibition, they booed him relentlessly during the week until he no longer was introduced to the spectators.
A number of internet/e-mail based petitions have been circulating. Concerned individuals can add their name to one of these. See URLs, below.
At the ISU the first choice, of course, is to write to ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta in care of ISU headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. One can also write to the ISU vice-president for figure skating David Dore in care of the ISU headquarters in Lausanne or Skate Canada headquarters in Canada, and one can write to ISU council members; for example Phyllis Howard, the ISU council member from the United States.
Letters can also be directed to the presidents of the various national skating federations that are members of the ISU. Mrs. Howard is president of the USFSA and Mrs. Marilyn Chidlow is president of Skate Canada.
Much of what is currently going on at the ISU is driven by perceptions of figure skating and the ISU held by the IOC as a result of the Salt Lake City scandal. Fans could write to IOC president Jacques Rogge to provide him with their thoughts.
Finally, fans can write to ABC and NBC sports, the networks that televise ISU events and the Winter Olympics. TV provides the main revenue stream for both the ISU and IOC, and skating is the main ratings grabber for Winter Olympic coverage and ticket sales. If one is feels strongly that the direction the ISU is taking will be the ruination of skating, fans could let the appropriate people know they will no longer attend ISU events and no longer watch ISU/IOC events on TV. A boycott of ISU events and TV coverage would probably have the most profound impact of all. It wouldn't be the first time TV pressured the ISU on some issue when it thought it necessary to protect its financial stake in skating.
Petitions: www.thepetitionsite.com, www.skatefair.com
Mr. Ottavio Cinquanta
International Skating Union
Chemin de Primerose 2
1007 Lausanne, Switzerland
Mr. David Dore
International Skating Union
C/O Skate Canada
865 Shefford Road
Gloucester, Ontario K1J 1H9
Canada
Mrs. Phyllis Howard
USFSA
20 First Street.
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
Mrs. Marilyn Chidlow
Skate Canada
865 Shefford Road
Gloucester, Ontario K1J 1H9
Canada
Mr. Jacques Rogge
International Olympic Committee
Chateau de Vidy
1007 Lausanne, Switzerland
Mr. George Brodenheimer
President ABC Sports
47 W. 66th St.
New York, NY 10023
Mr. Dick Ebersol
Chairman NBC Sports and NBC Olympics
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
Copyright 2003 by George S. Rossano