On June 1st, the iF3 held a Special Assembly to vote on two separate issues. The first issue was a postponed proposal from the Norwegian federation about removing technique points from Junior Competitions.
The proposal was submitted for vote at the 2022 General Assembly, but during the vote, a lack of clarity in the counting of abstentions was discovered in the voting rules causing the vote to be postponed and moved to a later date after the rules could be properly clarified.
With the newly clarified rules, the Assembly, which was composed of all National Federations who were current on their membership dues, voted to abolish technique points for international Junior competitions. As a result, technique points will not be included in the scoring for Juniors at Junior Worlds in Canada this season. Moving into 2024, the iF3 Technical Official’s Committee plans to examine the possibility of creating special movement standards for Juniors that would result in a “no rep” for egregious safety violations by Junior athletes.
The second proposal voted on in the session was whether or not to adopt the IOC recommendations on Russia and the return of Russian athletes to competition as neutrals. The Assembly voted in favor of adopting the IOC recommendations, and as a result the following rules will immediately take effect:
- No international iF3 events may be organized in Russia
- No Russian flag, anthems or other national symbols whatsoever should be displayed at any international iF3 events
- No Russian government or state officials should be accredited for or invited to any international iF3 events.
- Athletes with a Russian passport may compete in iF3 competitions only as Individual Neutral Athletes
- Athletes with a Russian passport will not be eligible to compete in iF3 Teams or Pairs Competition. Nor will Russia be eligible for any Top Nation awards during competition.
- Athletes who actively support the war cannot compete in iF3 events. Support personnel, including but not limited to coaches, volunteers, and Technical Officials who actively support the war cannot participate in iF3 events.
- Athletes who are contracted to the Russian military or national security agencies cannot compete in iF3 events. Support personnel, including coaches, volunteers, and Technical Officials, who are contracted to the Russian military or national security agencies cannot participate in iF3 events.
The next iF3 General Assembly will be held November 23 in Oslo, Norway prior to the kick off of the 2023 iF3 World Championships.
