KYOTO, Japan -- Leave it to figure skating to approve radical reforms that might never happen.

Determined to dig its way out of the crisis sparked by the Salt Lake City judging scandal, the International Skating Union voted Monday to accept a plan that would replace figure skating's 6.0 scale with a points system. It's a complete departure from the way skating has operated for almost a century.

"The current system is no longer stable to protect and serve the ISU in an adequate way,'' president Ottavio Cinquanta told the congress before the vote. "That is sure.''

But skaters might be landing quintuple jumps before this plan takes effect.

The ISU already has spent several months drawing up its idea for reform, but the plan is far from complete. It needs more research and refinement, and no one's sure how long that will take.

The new system might be ready for testing at some competitions in the next two years, but the congress will have to vote on it again in 2004 before it could be implemented for good.

In the meantime, the United States and Australia have proposals that would modify the current scoring system. The U.S. proposal would use the median mark to determine the score. The Australian plan would throw out the two highest and two lowest marks, then add the technical and presentation scores together to get a point total.

Both could be used beginning this season.

"If the other one is so perfect, maybe this will never go too far,'' said Fredi Schmid, the ISU's general secretary.

After the Salt Lake City debacle, though, the ISU had to do something. While skating is hugely popular and generates millions for both the ISU and International Olympic Committee, the IOC doesn't like anything overshadowing its show.

That's exactly what the pairs scandal did in Salt Lake City. Events that would have been defining moments at any other games were all but ignored after French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne admitted she'd been pressured to "vote a certain way'' when she put Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze first.

The IOC even took the unprecedented move of awarding duplicate gold medals to Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

Judging shenanigans may have been a part of skating since the sport began, but the IOC has had enough. IOC president Jacques Rogge even sent delegates a letter urging them to pass reforms.

"We are in the middle of a crisis and we are responsible to find a solution because the situation is grave,'' Cinquanta said. "To do nothing would be a disaster. To do nothing would not be in the style, in the dignity of a federation (that's existed) 110 years.''

The ISU proposal would replace the 6.0 mark with a points system similar to those used by other subjective sports such as diving and snowboarding. Every move would have a set value, and skaters would get points added for each element as opposed to the deductions taken now.

That means future gold medalists could have three-digit scores instead of perfect 6.0s.

Also, a computer would randomly choose which scores to use. Judges wouldn't know if their marks counted, reducing the likelihood of back-room deals.

"This is a good result for the ISU,'' Cinquanta said. "We have opened another door.''

Maybe.

Though the plan passed easily -- 81 countries voted for it, 16 were against and seven abstained -- not everyone is convinced. There were many who questioned why the entire congress was voting on it; the American and Australian proposals will be considered only by the figure skating delegates.

Others had concerns about how detailed the ISU proposal was, wondering if the spelled-out rules could be too limiting if modifications are needed. The tension was evident, as debate about the proposal turned into a personal attack on Sally Stapleford, chair of the ISU's powerful technical committee.

Stapleford raised concerns about the proposal's details, and Cinquanta responded with a stinging rebuke.

"In Salt Lake City, we were waiting for a contribution, a personal contribution,'' he said. "You disappeared. You left the council alone.''

After the meeting, Stapleford said she was taken aback by Cinquanta's attack.

"I was rather surprised,'' she said. "I think he missed the point that I was trying to help him.''

But most people who had reservations ended up voting for the plan. The U.S. Figure Skating Association did, despite some reservations.

Australia voted against the proposal. So did France, Japan and Britain.

"We voted for it as a project and because we did not want to be painted as being against reform,'' said John LeFevre, executive director of the USFSA. "The main thing we wanted to make sure we could do is present our proposal.''