ISU without Russia does not roll

The losses of the International Skating Union (ISU) due to the exclusion from participation in competitions held under the auspices of the federation of Russian athletes, primarily figure skaters, will exceed $1 million this year. This is due to the fact that ISU no longer receives money from the sale of commercial skates in Russia. and media rights. The amount of losses may seem insignificant, but it is worth considering that the ISU is far from the International Football Federation (FIFA) in terms of income. In addition, the federation ended 2022 with losses, and its reserve fund, from which the funds received from Russia will be compensated, does not even reach $3 million.

The International Skating Union presented its financial statements for 2022. The ISU, which manages three sports – figure skating, speed skating and short track – has officially admitted that its decision to remove Russian athletes from participation in competitions creates an additional financial burden on the structure’s budget. The report notes that by the end of 2023, a loss of $1.1 million is expected due to the absence of Russians at the competitions, as well as a ban on holding international tournaments in Russia. This, of course, is mainly about Russian figure skaters who acted as headliners of any competition, especially in women’s skating. Among the singles, we recall, the Russians Anna Shcherbakova and Alexander Trusova took first and second places at the 2022 Games in Beijing, respectively. In the couples competition, Russian duets Evgenia Tarasova-Vladimir Morozov, Anastasia Mishina-Alexander Gallyamov won silver and bronze, Victoria Sinitsyna and Nikita Katsalapov were second in dancing, plus the Russian team was the best in the team tournament.

The ISU report states that “sanctions against Russia have resulted in a virtual absence of revenue from advertising and media rights in Russia.” In fact, as is clear from the report, the ISU has already suffered losses. Another thing is that they will be reflected in the reporting for 2023, which will be published only in 2024. So already now you can multiply the amount of ISU losses by two (for 2022 and 2023). To level the situation, ISU plans to use funds from the reserve fund. He is not big. As of December 31, 2022, $2.8 million was stored in it. The sale of ISU offices in Davos for $1.44 million in 2022 will partly contribute to budget stabilization. The federation’s total income was $28.8 million. But the year still turned out to be unprofitable. The total losses exceeded $21 million. So far, however, most of these losses are paper. ISU has a block of bonds, the value of which is estimated at $293 million. But, as noted in the report, in 2022, the debt market was simultaneously negatively affected by high inflation, and rising central bank rates, and rising bond yields. As a result, after the revaluation of the portfolio as of December 31, 2022, an unrealized loss of $21 million was formed. ISU does not see this as a problem, noting that they intend to hold papers to maturity, which will not allow paper losses to turn into real ones. On the contrary, ISU is looking to make a profit. But this is if the federation does not have to urgently close positions on some securities. This has already happened. Due to the fall of the rating of a number of securities in the ISU portfolio below the investment rating, they had to be sold, which resulted in a real loss of $1.43 million. However, the compilers of the report suggest not to dramatize this episode.

Recall that ISU suspended Russian athletes from participating in competitions in the spring of 2022, shortly after the start of events in Ukraine. In March 2023, the International Olympic Committee recommended that sports federations allow Russians to participate in international tournaments who are not associated with law enforcement agencies and did not speak out in support of a special military operation in Ukraine. However, at the end of last week, the ISU decided to extend the suspension of the Russians.

Alexander Petrov