The International Skating Union (ISU) has banned Ukrainian judge Yuri Balkov for life, following an investigation into his attempted interference with the scoring of the junior ice dance competition at the Junior Grand Prix in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in October 2024.
According to the ISU’s website, Balkov attempted to contact one of the competition’s judges and asked him to award high scores to a Ukrainian ice dance duo for their free skate program. Balkov claimed that “other judges” supported his request, but the targeted judge did not respond and instead reported the incident to the ISU.
The investigation also raised suspicions about potential secret agreements among other officials, including Ukrainian judge Olena Lisova, Turkish judge Ece Esen and Swiss judge Roland Mäder, who were involved in the initial judging panel. Although their scores for the athletes showed similarities, they differed from those of the other judges and the accusations against them were ultimately dropped due to a lack of direct evidence. The Ukrainian duo of Irina Pidgainaja and Artem Koval, who won the competition, defeating French and American pairs, was not directly implicated in the scandal.
This is not the first time Balkov has been found guilty of a similar offense. In a previous incident at a competition in Nagano, Japan, he was banned for a year for attempting to influence the scores. Balkov has denied any wrongdoing, claiming he only loves ice dance and did not try to manipulate the scores, but the ISU has taken a firm stance in this case, issuing a life ban.