Communication No. 1150: Decisions of the ISU Council

The ISU Council held meetings on February 8, 14, 18, 21 and 22, 2002 in Salt Lake City, U.S.A. The following decisions were taken during this meeting (this Communication does not include items that have been dealt with in previous, separate Communications):

1. 2002 Olympic Winter Games Pairs event

Following the conclusion of the Pairs event at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, having collected certain evidence, the ISU Council was convened for an extraordinary meeting on February 14. On the basis of information and evidence received, the Council decided:

  1. to suspend the Judge Ms. Marie Reine Le Gougne from France for misconduct
  2. as a result to take an extraordinary measure corresponding to the extraordinary situation and to nullify the results of the 1st and 2nd couples in the competition and to recommend to the IOC to award two gold medals instead of gold and silver. (The IOC agreed to this proposal)

At its meeting on February 22, 2002, the Council considered the report of the ad hoc investigating commission concerning the accusations made against the Judge, Marie Reine Le Gougne and against the Council member Didier Gailhaguet and decided the following:

  1. to inform the above-mentioned persons about the nature of the alleged offences;
  2. to make all evidence obtained available to each accused person;
  3. to hold a hearing of the Council in April 2002 (date to be determined) at which evidence will be taken and an opportunity will be given to the accused persons to defend themselves;
  4. following the hearing, if possible the Council will make a final decision;
  5. the interim suspension of Marie Reine Le Gougne as a Judge until the time of the final decision of the Council remains in force.

2. Proposed new Figure Skating Judging System

The Council considered a proposal for a new judging system for Figure Skating indicated by the ISU President on February 8, 2002 and on request of the Council, presented to the Council on February 18, 2002. The system includes innovations in the marking format, methods and organization of judging. The Council unanimously expressed its support for the proposed system and decided to move forward with its development and also authorized the President to inform the media of this.

3. ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

The 2002/3 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be held as follows:

October 24 - 27, 2002		Smart Ones Skate America 		Spokane/USA 
October 31- November 3, 2002 	MasterCard Skate Canada International 	Québec City/CAN
November 7 - 10, 2002 		Bofrost Cup on Ice 			Gelsenkirchen/GER 
November 14 - 17, 2002 		Trophée Lalique 			Paris/FRA 
November 21 - 24, 2002 		Cup of Russia Galina Bianca 		St. Petersburg/RUS 
November 28 - December 1, 2002	NHK Trophy 				Kyoto/JPN 
February 28 - March 1, 2003	Grand Prix Final 			St. Petersburg/RUS 

4. Doping case

Yulia Yasenok of Belarus (Speed Skating) tested positive for prohibited substances (in the category of anabolic androgenic steroids) at the 2002 Speed Skating World Cup in Berlin.

The aforementioned skater did not accept in writing the positive test of the "A" sample and requested the analysis of the "B" sample. The analysis of the "B" Sample confirmed the positive result and was accepted in writing by Ms. Yasenok.

At its meeting in Salt Lake City, USA on February 21, 2002, the Council of the International Skating Union decided upon the following sanctions:

The skater is suspended from all competition until May 31, 2003.

The skater is excluded from the results of the Speed Skating World Cup and her placement is withdrawn. The placing for the skaters below the sanctioned skater will be adjusted to compose new rankings.

5. ISU President appointed to IOC Commissions

It was reported that ISU President, Ottavio Cinquanta, who is also a member of the IOC Executive Board, has been appointed to the Reform Commission, the Marketing Commission and the TV Rights and Internet Negotiation Commission of the International Olympic Committee.

Milan,				Ottavio Cinquanta, President
	March 20, 2002
Lausanne,			Fredi Schmid, General Secretary

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