I am only one voice but I wholeheartedly support the move by the WCF to remove Russian teams from World Championship competitions and I am proud of the response of Curling Canada in the strong statement of support which it has issued.

As a rules- based organization, the WCF’s constitution (organizational rules) has been followed in the statement which follows – verbatim! (The Curling Canada Statement also follows verbatim!

For clarification – the WCF includes 65-70 members. The Constitution dictates that 10% of members must vote against – within three days – to defeat the rule proposed change. I would be disappointed if more than one votes against!!

WORLD CURLING FEDERATION STATEMENT: The World Curling Federation Board today adopted an emergency ruling following a legal consultation regarding the situation surrounding Russian athletes competing at World Championship events.
 
Using the powers available to the Board under the World Curling Constitution Article 16.13.5 (in full below), the World Curling Federation Board has inserted the following new rule into the Rules of Curling and Rules of Competition:
 
Rule C1(b) The Board of the WCF may remove a team or Member Association from any WCF event if in the sole opinion of the Board their presence at the event would damage the event or put the safety of the participants or the good order of the event at risk.
 
The remaining clauses within Rule C1 shall be renumbered to incorporate this rule addition.
 
This new regulation has been passed to the Member Associations of the World Curling Federation, who now have three days to voice their objections to its adoption.
 
Should there be no objections, then at the conclusion of the three day evaluation window, the World Curling Federation will then begin the process of removing the Russian Curling Federation entries from the upcoming World Championships.
 
The World Curling Federation strongly condemns the military action undertaken by the Russian Government in their invasion of Ukraine and continues to hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the situation.

CURLING CANADA STATEMENT: Curling Canada strongly endorses today’s announcement from the World Curling Federation of an initiative to remove Russian teams from upcoming world championship events, and we urge fellow Member Nations to join us in supporting this WCF announcement, as well as the recent announcement that the 2022 European Curling Championships will be moved from Perm, Russia.

The invasion of Ukraine, a democracy, and an important member of our World Curling Membership, must be met with swift and assertive sanctions that makes a strong statement of our collective values, our ethical stance, and, first and foremost, demonstrates concern for the safety and the freedoms of the people of Ukraine. 

We also urge the WCF to continue working toward addressing longstanding, serious concerns that we and other Member Nations have raised about the culture of sport in Russia. These concerns must be dealt with in order to ensure a level playing field for all athletes, and to remain true to the Spirit of Curling.

WCF Constitution Article 16.13.5…….. “when urgent, take decisions normally assumed by the General Assembly (as per Art.15) except election of Board Members, expulsion of a Member Association, changes to the Constitution and dissolution of the WCF. In addition in emergency situations between General Assemblies, the Board may propose changes to the Rules of Curling and the Rules of Competition. Any changes proposed by the Board in an emergency situation will be circulated to the Member Associations and if more than 10% of the Member Associations, holding full membership and being in good standing object in writing to the Board within 3 working days of notice being given, the rule change will not be implemented and the matter will be referred to the next General Assembly of the WCF. Otherwise the Board’s decision to revise the rule(s) for the emergency situation will stand until the next General Assembly”