CSKA (Figure Skating)
I’ve obviously been thinking about who the ISU will grant eligibility to recently. There have been talks about Sofia Dzepka going if they don’t send Lena.
So I thought we could talk through how she is even less unlikely to be granted AIN.
CSKA is a club which is directly associated with the Russian Ministry of Defence. While some parts of this institution were privatised like in football, in figure skating it is still state owned.
This would fall under eligibility rule number 1 most likely:
Are in active service with the armed forces or a national security agency of Russia or Belarus
While to a lot of people this means going out on the front lines. This rules could also be interpreted as receiving funding and having a contract with the Ministry of defence.
An example of this is Daria Kachanova who was a Russian speed skater appealed her ban but was told no as being part of CSKA meant that she had military links.
Other notable skaters that could affected by this included newly turned national junior Alisa Zalkina and junior Sofia Smagina (it is worth noting that Alisa is on the reserve junior team while Smagina didn’t make the team this year).