Ladies and Gentlemen,

We would like to inform you of the following developments and decision in regard to the above-mentioned subject matter.

1. Cancellation of Asian Regional qualifying event for the 2002 World Speed Skating Championships

The Qualifying event for the World Speed Skating Championships 2002 for the Asian region was allotted by ISU to the Skating Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The event was to be held in Almaty on January 4-6, 2002. However, due to the special situation developing in the neighboring country Afghanistan during the autumn of 2001, the hosting Member could not maintain its commitment to organize the event. As no other Asian ISU Member was able to take over responsibility for organizing the event on short notice, the ISU Council has confirmed the cancellation of the Asian qualifying event for the 2002 World Championships.

2. Allotment of entry quotas for Asian Members for the 2002 World Speed Skating Championships

The total entry quotas for Asian Members for the 2002 World Championships are 7 Ladies and 5 Men. For the preceding World Championships (2001) the entry quotas were 5 Ladies and 5 Men. According to the ISU Special Regulations Speed Skating, the entry quotas were distributed among the Asian Members based on the results of the regional qualifying event held in Harbin, CHN in December 2000.

Respecting the spirit of the qualification system defined in the ISU Special Regulations Speed Skating, the ISU Council has decided that entry quotas for Asian Members for the 2002 World Speed Skating Championships shall be allotted according to the following criteria:

1. The overall distribution of the entry quotas between the Asian ISU Speed Skating Members shall reflect the current relative strength of these ISU Members in the competition program of the World Championships, i.e. "simulating" the results of the cancelled qualifying event. Based on results from the preceding and the present seasons, the ISU Speed Skating Technical Committee will make a judgement and forward a recommendation to the ISU Council. The complete allotment of entry quotas will be communicated before the close of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

2. The allotment of entry quotas (start positions) will be based on results from the following competitions:

a) From the season 2000/01 the competitions considered are the Regional qualifying event for Asia and the World Speed Skating Championships.

b) For the present season 2001/02 there are no available International competitions featuring the same program (4 distances combined) as the World Championships. As the most relevant indicator the ISU will therefore consider the results from the 1500 m and 3000 m (Ladies) and 1500 m and 5000 m (Men) from the following competitions:

· World Cup events in Berlin, Innsbruck, The Hague and Heerenveen.

· Olympic Winter Games, Salt Lake City.

3. To facilitate the season's planning and preparations for the 2002 World Championships for the Members concerned, the entry quotas will be partly determined now. The following pre-allotments of entry quotas are made as per December 31, 2001:

a) Members with skaters placed among the 4 best in the Regional Qualifying event for the 2001 World Championships and among the 4 best Asian skaters at the 2001 World Championships, are pre-allotted a corresponding number of start positions, as follows:

Ladies				Men

JPN	3			JPN	3
CHN	1			KAZ	1

b) Based on results from the 3 World Cup events held during November 2001 one more start position for Ladies is pre-allotted to CHN (as the 2nd entry from CHN).

c) The pre-allotted and the remaining entry quotas as per December 31, 2001 are therefore as follows:

Ladies					Men

		JPN		3			JPN		3
		CHN		2			KAZ		1

		Pre-allotted:	5			Pre-allotted:	4
	Still to be allotted:	2		Still to be allotted:	1
Total entry quotas, Ladies:	7		Total entry quotas Men:	5

4. The allotment of the remaining start positions (2 for Ladies, 1 for Men) will also take into consideration the results from the forthcoming World Cup in Heerenveen, January 11-13, 2002 and the Olympic Winter Games 2002. In this respect Members which have been pre-allotted entry quotas, may also earn additional start positions within the maximum entry quotas of 4 skaters per category. A reserve list of start positions will be established following the same criteria as outlined above.

We thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.

With kind regards,

Ottavio Cinquanta					 Fredi Schmid

President				                 General Secretary

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