Budapest: The Hungarian Skating Federation will not be able to host the 2024 European Figure Skating Championships due to the negative impact of the Ukraine conflict on the country’s economy and the related energy crisis, the International Skating Union (ISU) and the Hungarian Skating Federation said.
“The ISU has been informed by the Hungarian National Skating Federation that they will unfortunately not be able to host the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2024, planned in Budapest on January 22-28, 2024,” the ISU said in a statement, adding that applications for the championships had been reopened.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian Skating Federation explained its decision by the prolonged conflict in neighboring Ukraine, which has adversely affected the Hungarian economy and energy prices, with a major impact on figure skating.
“We have refused the right granted by the ISU to host the tournament due to the lack of sufficient financial resources to organize quality competitions,” the Hungarian Skating Federation added in a statement.
As part of the international community’s reaction to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and its consequences, in March 2022, the ISU Council banned Russian and Belarusian ice skaters from international ice-skating competitions until further notice. In June 2022, the ISU said that the decision on suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes would be valid until a special decision is taken by ISU Council or Congress.
