SQUARRING OF ACCOUNTS AFTER THE FINAL

by Arthur Werner

Those who watched the competitions of the ISU Grand Prix Series already know about the scandal in the noble family of ice-dancers: the World champions Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio won two stages in Germany and Russia, but were placed only forth at the final in Kitchener/Canada, right after the Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne - Victor Kraatz, the French Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat and the Lithuanians Margarita Drobiazko - Povilas Vanagas. Of course it's natural that not only the Italian dancers were shocked, but the entire federation as well. Though actually they were placed absolutely correctly: Maurizio shows such a bad skating this season, that it doesn't worth a better marking. He always skated worse than Barbara, but this year their program not only doesn't hide the lacks, but on the contrary underlines them in every possible way. This time their program was done by Nikolai Morozov - Tatiana Tarassova's assistant. And it is known that already in summer the temperamental and technically excellent Barbara showed her utter discontent with it. Fusar-Poli blamed Morozov that he was going "to put them under" the Canadians, by doing the much less advantageous program, than the one he was doing for his lover Shae-Lynn Bourne. In Kitchener she turned to be right. And really, Maurizio skates on two legs almost all the time this season, and it's not completely clear, how the great Tatiana Tarassova - the world best master in showing the advantages and hiding the lacks, could let her couple to look so loosingly on ice. Look only at the Israelis couple Galit Chait and Sergey Sakhnovsky, who left her for Natalia Dubova: their Paganini of the last year, who lifted the couple three-four places higher, had become the brightest example of the excellent drapery of all the lacks in technique. Of course Tatiana Anatolievna could not miss Maurizio's mistakes, but it's possible, that she wanted to revenge the Italian Federation for the not absolutely correct behavior towards her. What is unclear though, what does the couple coach Roberto Pellizzola, the participant of the Olympic Games in Sarayevo in 1984, think about that. Maybe he just didn't have time for changing the program.

Canadian newspaper "The Globe and Mail" recently publicshed an article describing the development of the events in Kitchener after setting the final scores. Its author Beverly Smith is known as an exquisite analyst, whose materials are based on the statements of competent people, who nearly always are the direct participants of the events. Smith knows very well all the politics in skating and shows naivety only in what concerns "the European map". She considers that all "post-soviet" countries still judge in a way favorable for "the Big Brother". But as Beverly herself wrote me herself, she never visits the European competitions, so she has no cource to get this knowledge from.

This time she wrote that after the final "letting down" of the Italians their compatriot the ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta came to the ISU technical committee head Alexander Gorshkov and had a short but vigorous talk with him. In his turn at the traditional analysis of the judgement after the competitions, Gorshkov literally had fallen upon the judges' brigade and had declared categorically that Fusar-Poli and Margaglio were the best and that such decision of the judges throws the ice-dancing fifteen years back. Gorshkov forced five judges to write him a detailed explanation of their quasi wrong marks. Probably Gorshkov and Cinquanta won't stop on that.

Cinquanta does not deny the fact that the gold Olympic medal would be the highest award for the Italians and for himself, but he categorically denies his slightest participation in the development of that process. On a press conference in St.-Petersburg "Don Figurleone" even brought down an avalanche of sarcasm on a head of the local journalist Boris Khodorovsky, who dared to hint transparently at a possibility of creation for Fusar-Poli and Margaglio "the regime of the highest preference". Well, maybe Cinquanta himself doesn't participate in this pushing, but he certainly doesn't forget, that this possibility would brought him the first Olympic gold medal in the history of the Italian ice-dancing, and wouldn't harmed his career at all.

This piece of news from the Canadian paper was published in an abridged form on the Internet page of Sport-Express newspaper, and at once the different hints ran down in Russian speaking environment, that Alexander Gorshkov got bribed by ISU president.

Since I've also been asked a ton of questions like that, I'll try to give my view to everyone. Personally I don't consider that Alexander Gorshkov can be bribed. You just have to consider the fact that Alexander Georgievitch sits on two chairs - as a head of the international department of the Russian Olympic Committee and as a head of the ISU ice dance technical committee. And he can schemed on both. That's why he has to protect his own interests, keeping both of his posts. The first one forces him to promote Irina Lobacheva/Ilia Averbukh, the second one requires the same for the Italians. As for the Gorshkov's statement that the Fusar-Poli and Margaglio's bias to the so called "the first place near the podium" has thrown the ice-dancing 15 years back, I think Alexander Georgievitch just remembered himself and his unforgettable partner Ludmila Pakhomova.

And actually, you can draw a lot of parallels between these two couples. The leading place was and is occupied by women in both couples, leaving for a partner the role of the supporting column. Both times it was a women's dancing, and the ladies chose not the first partner for that. Ludmila found Alexander after Victor Ryzhkin had left for coaching. Barbara also tried several partners, before she found Maurizio. The handsome men often skated two legged, allowing shining to their partners, and warming themselves in the rays of their fame. So, if you discard such equal couples as Moiseeva - Minenkov, Bestemianova - Bukin, Klimova - Ponomarenko, Griszhuk - Platov, the couple Fusar-Poli -Margaglio can really join the couple Pakhomova - Gorshkov.

But the fact itself, that the head of the ISU ice dance technical committee, the man, whose job is in developing of ice dancing, tries to persuade the professional judges, that Fusar-Poli and Margaglio are the best ice dancers today makes to prick up one's ears. It's possible that after such a blowing-up the judges will try "to correct their mistakes" at the Europeans in Lausanne or on the contrary will try to prove their case to Gorshkov. Anyway the world press attention is guaranteed to Gorshkov, and this his famous "Chinese syndrome of Helsinki" won't go off without a big scandal. I remember some fable told about the danger of too obliging friends and it is possible, that the policy of outrageous patronizing won't help the Italian dancers, but will harm the ISU President. Would be good if Alexander Georgievitch remembered, that the only sportsmen criteria are the ISU rules, and he participates in their creation not for the first year.

PS (was not published in this article): Rumours circulating at the Russia's championship in Moscow stated the the chairman of the Russian Figure Skating Federation mr. V.N.Piseev requested from the father of Ilya Averbukh an amount of $US300,000 - 500,000 to bribe the judges. For this amount, mr. Piseev "quaranteed" to mr. Averbukh Olimpic Gold medals in figure skating for his son and his partner.