March 13th ISU Statement Regarding Worlds

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami13 Mar 2011 11:49

The ISU sympathizes deeply with the Japanese people in this monstrous natural disaster and extends its wishes of support and comfort to all those affected.Since the beginning of this crisis the ISU is monitoring the situation closely in cooperation with the Japan Skating Federation (JSF) who in turn is in contact with the competent and concerned Japanese authorities. The ISU has noted the JSF’s initial input regarding the situation in Tokyo and respected their initial desire to maintain the Championships as planned. However, the recent developments since Saturday, in particular the developments in the Fukushima nuclear plant are very worrisome and also resulted in travel advisories from many countries to avoid travelling to Japan until the situation is settled. The ISU continues to monitor the situation in cooperation with the JSF and the Japanese authorities in order to come to a conclusion as to maintaining or cancelling the Championships in Tokyo scheduled for next week. While the ISU is awaiting the declaration of the competent Japanese authorities that should be forthcoming shortly, the ISU will release a further statement as soon as possible but latest in the morning of Monday, March 14, 2011 (European time).