The Globe and Mail has obtained a letter from an anonymous ice-dancing official beseeching former Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch three years ago to halt corruption in figure skating.

The letter, dated Aug. 28, 1999, gave behind-the-scenes details of collusion, pressure tactics, gift giving and even several suggestions of bribery at specific competitions dating to the 1996-97 season. The letter was also sent to Ottavio Cinquanta, the president of the International Skating Union, and to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.

A second anonymous letter was addressed only to Cinquanta, and although undated, it seems to have been written after the 2001 European championships in Bratislava.

A spokesman for the ISU, responding on behalf of Cinquanta yesterday, said the federation's policy is not to act on the basis of anonymous letters.

"In our sport, as in many other spheres, there have always been rumours and gossip," the spokesman said. "However, rumours and gossip are not a sufficient basis for opening an official investigation or disciplinary proceedings.

"Each time the ISU has tried to verify such rumours and to turn them into evidence, nothing has come of it. Nobody has been willing to testify and/or to confirm any specific information and, of course, everybody has denied wrongdoing."

The ISU, which says it has only limited powers of investigation, would not confirm that it had received the two anonymous letters.

Although the second letter, apparently sent to Cinquanta, said "I am sorry to have to write another letter to you," it is not clear that the two letters were written by the same person.

The first letter was signed by an "ice dancing official," which could mean a judge, referee or technical committee member. The second was unsigned, but appears to be from an international judge.

In a desperate tone, the author said in the 1999 letter: "I write this letter in an attempt to represent those judges and officials whose lives have been made so terribly difficult with the pressures and the talks that take place. I do so hope that you take this very seriously. . . . Can you please do us all a favour and act immediately to make this event a fairer and respected competition and not a circus of bribes and favours?"

Reports of vote swapping have been rampant since the letter was written. The author also pointed out that few judges feel comfortable at coming forward with information. After the scandal-plagued Nagano Olympics of 1998, when dancing was under a microscope, the ISU asked judges to reply to a questionnaire asking for information.

"The form has been designed in such a way by the ISU which, we are sure, was meant to terrify all judges questioned, especially ice dance judges," the letter said.

In the second letter, the author talked of being pressed by judges from Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Italy during the European championships in Slovakia. The anonymous letter sent to Olympic and international skating officials delivered a litany of complaints about corrupt judging practices, with details from 12 events between 1996 and 1999.

"I couldn't sleep," the letter said. "I couldn't judge as I wanted.

"I saw [four other judges] talking with so many other judges trying to get the support for the [Israeli] team. It was not fair. . . . What can we do when we have pressure from so many bad judges?"

The letter also referred to an official accepting gifts from one of the countries involved, adding that the judge from that country talked about it all the time.

"This needs to be stopped," the letter said. "We must judge as we see it, not on how much money a federation has for gifts. . . .

"I am beginning to become so afraid to judge for ISU because of such pressures and demands."

The writer implored Cinquanta to correct the situation before the 2001 world championships in Vancouver, but the dance event there was won by Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio of Italy amid much controversy.

The writer threatened to hold a news conference after the world championships if something wasn't done immediately and said other judges would be asked for support.

Sources say that some judges met after the dance event and discussed holding a news conference. But a senior dance official persuaded them not to do it, asking them to wait a year because dance judging couldn't get any worse and influence peddling had become so brazen that it would have to be cleaned up by the Salt Lake Olympics.

Cinquanta told people at the closing banquet in Vancouver that they must accept the results of the dance event without question.

The letter writer implored Cinquanta to prevent four judges in particular from judging the dance event in Vancouver.

"I cannot cope with so much of their talking and horrible ways towards the others, me included," the letter said. "Pressure from them is too much and we just cannot have this again.

"It is not fair for our sport or for our skaters. We judge for skaters, not for federations or other judges. We are to be honest and independent."

Not only did the four specific judges attend the Vancouver event, but one mysteriously showed up on the list at the last minute, even though he wasn't originally accredited.