Putin’s War Forces Postponement Of Ukraine-Funded ISL Season 4 Until 2023
The International Swimming League – ISL – Season 4 has been postponed until 2023 because of the impact of Russia’s illegal war on the sovereign country of Ukraine, the native country of the league founder and funder.
The ISL was founded and is funder by Konstantin Grigorishin, the Energy Standard boss and energy sector billionaire who has been at loggerheads with the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin for a number of years.
FINA last week barred Russian and Belarussian athletes and officials from taking part in the World Championships in Budapest this June, while Kazan was stripped of hosting rights for the World short-course championships in December. LEN, the European League, had already ruled the two aggressor countries out of the European Championships in Rome in August. Now, there is no League. Basically, there will be no Russians in top international competition for the rest of 2022.
The League has not commented on the controversies of Russian athletes it has sponsored being seen at Putin’s pro-war rally in Moscow the week before last and kicking back at criticism levelled at Russia. However, a chilly message from the League was sent informally last week.
The 2022 competition calendar had already become unsustainable, the delay to the ISL season 4 an opportunity for the league to reassess its direction after a series of resignations aimed at sending a message to ISL bosses that could be summed up by “we love the League, we back it but it has to listen to swimming knowledge to understand that some ISL decisions have prevented progress and the pursuit of essential popularity”.
Grigorishin has been the biggest single investor in the sport of swimming for several years, from the creation of the Energy Standards swim squads, development and senior elite and then the International Swimming League, which had decided to extend its season 4 from several weeks to six months.
In Season 2 during the first year of the Covid-pandemic, the ISL managed to stage the only global swimming gathering with a competition series that included a Solidarity Camp in Budapest, during which swimmers trained and learned about aspects of the professionalisation of their sport.
The ISL Season 4 Letter In Full
Related SOS Coverage:
- Russian And Belarusian Athletes & Officials Thrown Out Of FINA World Championships & Kazan Short-Course Showcase Scrapped As Global Regulator Condemns Invasion Of Ukraine
- Evgeny Rylov Title Hunt In Doubt As Role In Putin Pro-War ‘Z’ Rally Prompts FINA To Appoint Disciplinary Panel With Sanction In Mind
- Olympic Champion Evgeny Rylov Dumped By Speedo After Appearing At Putin’s ‘Z’ War Rally In Moscow; Athlete & Russia Face Sanction For Bringing Sport Into Disrepute
- Swiss Aquatics Will Boycott Budapest World Titles In June If FINA Allows Russians In
- Ukraine’s National Junior Swimming Team In Safe Haven In Hungary After Efforts Of 1980 Olympic-Champ Brothers-Across-Borders Wladar & Fesenko
- German World Champs Swim Team Funding Will Be Frozen By Berlin If FINA Allows Russia & Belarus To Compete In Budapest
- Olympic Governance Under Scrutiny Over Weakness Of Response To Russian War On Ukraine
- Ukraine Athletes In A Race Against Time & Russian Attacks Blocking Their Way To The Border – Swim Boss Andriy Vlaskov Speaks To SOS From Kiev Under Siege
- Russia & Belarus Barred From European Aquatics Events “Until Further Notice” As Putin War On Ukraine Rages & Swim Coach Is Saved From Rubble
- Boycott Threats Force Paralympic U-Turn – Russia & Belarus Athletes Out Of Paralympics Day After ‘No Legal Basis’ Decision Kept Them In
- Ukrainian Swimming Says Athletes/Coaches Injured & Insists FINA Does Have Legal Basis For Full Russia/Belarus Ban: Discrimination
- British Swimming To Boycott 2022 World S/C Titles & 2024 Euro Champs If They Stay In Kazan, Russia As FINA Says ‘No Legal Basis’ To Ban Athletes
- Vladimir Putin Stripped Of FINA Order But Russia / Belarus Athletes Only Barred From Flying Flag
- No More Bubbly – Putin Stripped Of Olympic Order As IOC Bosses Tell Feds To ‘Ban All Russian Athletes & Officials’
- Ukraine Athletes Call On IOC To Ban All Athletes & Olympic/Paralympic Committees Of Russia/Belarus
- Kazan Stripped Of World Championships As FINA Responds To Ukraine Invasion & Pressure From Swim Feds
- Ukraine Swimming Federation Calls On FINA To Suspend Russia / Belarus & Cancel All Events
- Nordic Swimming Feds Call On FINA To ‘Immediately Suspend Russia & Belarus’ Pending Peace In Ukraine
- Red Card For Russia Is The Only Moral & Ethical Response From Sport To Putin Power
- IOC Urges FINA & Other International Federations To Cancel All Events In Russia Or Belarus; LEN Scraps Russian Competitions
- FINA Cancels Two Events But Leaves World Championships, Junior & Senior, “Under Close Review” As Putin’s Murderous Attack On Ukraine & Its Sovereignty Continues
- Blood In The Water & Why Sports Leaders Cannot Allow Warmongers To Use Sport As A Bargaining Chip In Their Olympic Power Games
- Putin Putsch: FINA Must Cancel All Events In Russia To Guarantee Athlete Safety As No1 On 4-Point Priority Plan To Honour Olympic Charter “Neutrality” Key To Autonomy
- The Red Lines Between Beijing 2008, 2022, Olympic Governance, Games Investors & Athletes Demanding Cultural Revolution