The SportAccord IF Forum 2025, to be held in Lausanne from October 27-29, will gather over 400 International Federation leaders to discuss governance, sustainability, and innovation under the theme 'The New Global Reality in Sport.' Key sessions include discussions on commercialization, women’s sport, audience engagement, and keynote speeches from experts like Professor Simon Chadwick. Speakers include Petra Sörling (International Table Tennis Federation), Max Cobb (International Biathlon Union), François Vergnol (International Equestrian Federation), Fabio Azevedo (International Volleyball Federation) and Jiao Li (International Skating Union). The forum aims to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange in preparation for the SportAccord Convention 2026 in Baku.

The ISU Grand Prix series, a key lead-up to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, begins with the Grand Prix de France from October 17-19, 2025, in Angers. The series includes six events, concluding with the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan, from December 4-7, 2025. Top skaters like Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu, Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara, and Wenjing Sui/Cong Han will compete for points and prize money (18,000 USD for individual winners per event) to qualify for the final. The "Skate to Milano" campaign links the season to the Olympics.

The International Skating Union (ISU) Council approved on October 3 a package of measures to bolster financial support for athletes, effective from the 2025/26 season, as part of the Vision 2030 strategy. These include world record bonuses (USD 5,000 for individual, USD 10,000-20,000 for team events), relaxed sponsorship logo restrictions on uniforms (excluding the Olympic Games), over USD 3.75 million in development funds (including USD 700,000 for athlete safeguarding and USD 85,000 for Ukrainian skaters), and prize money for junior categories. These changes aim to reinforce the link between the ISU and skaters.

The International Skating Union (ISU) has implemented the "Calm Zone" initiative, inspired by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) "Mind Zone", at the ISU Skate to Milano Qualifier in Beijing, following its debut at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston. This initiative aims to support athletes' mental and emotional well-being by providing resources such as mindfulness tools, therapy dogs, and a 'Kindness Wall'. As part of ISU's 'Vision 2030' strategy, the "Calm Zone" will be a regular feature in future competitions, including those leading up to the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

The Finnish Figure Skating Association now permits two women to compete together in ice dance, designating them as 'skater A' and 'skater B,' replacing traditional gender requirements. Emma Aalto and Millie Colling are the first female pair to compete domestically under these new rules, a change inspired by Skate Canada's 2022 policy. While athletes celebrate the move towards inclusivity, Dmitry Svishchev, a Russian official, criticized it as undermining the essence of ice dance, highlighting a cultural divide over the issue.