Phil Hersh spoke with International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta, who said that the fate of the competition will be decided this week.
Cinquanta told me the issue was not whether Japanese skating officials would consider it disrespectful to move an event they had spent so much time and money planning before knowing whether it might be possible to hold it in Tokyo sometime soon.
``This is the World Figure Skating Championships, not the Japanese Figure Skating Championship,'' Cinquanta said. ``(But) I must take into consideration respect for the Japanese no matter what we do.''
Cinquanta said he would make a personal choice on the best course of action but the ISU Council would ultimately decide the fate of the championships. He expected to speak with council members by Tuesday.
Cinquanta said he has had no discussions yet about specific alternate sites.
The best possibility for an alternate site would be China or South Korea, because their governments likely would cover all or some of the costs.
The article also names some possibly alternate sites, should they decide to move the championships.
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