'Crushing Defeat' For Russia, Belarus as FIDE Votes To Maintain Sanctions

Russian and Belarusian chess teams will remain banned, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) decided at the General Assembly on Sunday. Instead, delegates voted in favor of a motion to consider lifting some restrictions for vulnerable groups.

The decision was taken at the General Assembly, held in Budapest, Hungary this weekend, in connection with the 45th Chess Olympiad.

Delegates from 66 countries in the end supported a last-minute proposal by the FIDE Council, led by the Russian FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, to consider lifting sanctions for children under 12 years old and players with disabilities. 41 delegates voted to maintain sanctions, while only 21 delegates voted in favor of lifting the ban entirely. 11 delegates abstained, while 60 were absent.

The English delegate, IM Malcolm Pein, described the results as a "crushing defeat" for Russia: “There is no doubt that many delegates feared consequences for the governing body’s relationship with the IOC if policy diverged,” he told BBC.

Ultimately the votes @FIDE_chess GA were a crushing defeat for the @ruchess_eng There were 2 motions maintaining sanctions that secured 107 votes in total with only 21 of the 'usual suspects' (out of 140 who voted) voting to lift sanctions #chess #Ukraine @AKamyshin @ECUonline

— Malcolm Pein (@TelegraphChess) September 22, 2024

The last-minute motion, presented by five-time world champion and FIDE Deputy President GM Viswanathan Anand, would support the FIDE Council to consider lifting sanctions for the vulnerable groups in consultation with IOC.

“We believe this approach upholds FIDE’s commitment to inclusivity while respecting the international framework," Anand said before the vote began.

However, it was also pointed out that IOC's stance regarding sanctions is firm and unlikely to change given the current state of the war.

#chess #FIDE There will be no 2nd round. It is more probable that in 1 year the Kremlin will be under Ukrainian occupation than the IOC easing any of its existing sanctions. https://t.co/n5ZmhAVNLH

— George Mastrokoukos (@GMastrokoukos) September 22, 2024

The controversial proposal by the Kyrgyz Chess Federation that would lift all restrictions against Russia and Belarus, was met by heavy protests from the European Chess Union and a number of Western federations in the week leading up to the General Assembly.

During the FIDE Awards on Friday, even five-time world champion GM Magnus Carlsen made headlines when he surprisingly urged FIDE to uphold the restrictions, honoring his former coach GM Garry Kasparov, a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin.

Later that day, the U.S. State Department also released a statement warning chess federations not to break precedent from IOC: "While chess players in Ukraine are being killed by Russia's forces, there is no place for the Russian and Belarusian flags at chess tournaments," they said.

On stage in Budapest, Babur Tolbaev from the Kyrgyz Chess Federations called the sanctions "unethical" and said chess players should not suffer because of their governments. He also argued that Russia has been a great chess nation and done so much for the game that it would be wrong to sanction them. Another argument was that it would be unfair to Dvorkovich, a Russian citizen, considering the support during the FIDE Election in 2022.

"Imagine you delegates, you are participating as a delegate and your team is not playing. Imagine now you are FIDE president with big support from the chess world, represent one of the biggest organizations in the world, and your team is not playing. What are we doing to our president?" he said, and called for the delegates to "do the right thing."

The Russian delegate Sergey Janovsky described the sanctions as "unfair" and claimed they are a violation of the FIDE Charter that says there should be no discrimination based on country. "Chess should unite people, not divide them, the highest goal in chess," he said, warning delegates "not to mix chess and politics."

Viktor Kapustin, the Ukrainian delegate, responded strongly: "We believe that the memory of 34 Ukrainian chess players, coaches, and officials, who were killed by the Russians, is a sufficient reason to keep restrictions. We suggest not to return to this question until IOC issues other recommendations on this matter," he said, adding: "It’s ridiculous to hear from Russian chess authorities about human rights at a time that the Supervisory board of the Russian Chess Federation is full of war criminals whose hands are in blood of Ukrainians.“

We believe that the memory of 34 Ukrainian chess players, coaches, and officials, who were killed by the Russians, is a sufficient reason to keep restrictions.

—Viktor Kasputin, Ukrainian Chess Federation

The arguments were also fiercely rebutted by Malcolm Pein: "He spoke about equal rights. I'll tell you what the most fundamental right is. That is not to have your country invaded! It's not discrimination of race and nationality, it's punishment for your government's behavior."

Pein was later met with applause when he said: “And yes, I agree that politics shouldn’t be in chess. But if politics shouldn’t be in chess, Russian delegate, why is a former defense minister and other politicians in the Board of the Russian Chess Federation?" referring to Sergei Shoigu, the former minister now subject to an arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court.

If politics shouldn’t be in chess, why is a former defense minister and other politicians in the Board of the Russian Chess Federation?

—Malcolm Pein

He also pointed out that lifting sanctions would put FIDE's relationship with IOC at risk: "Nothing is changed, the war continues, Ukrainian chess players continue to be killed. Why should we change our position?" Pein said.

That sentiment was supported by President of the Malta Chess Federation Geoffrey Borg, a former CEO of FIDE, who noted that restrictions are considerably stronger in other sports, where Russians and Belarusians are banned from competing altogether.

"We have to respect the relationship with the IOC charter. We are part of another extended family. We are not in isolation. In 2023 the Russian Olympic Committee, based on the exact same principle that is argued here today, took the case to CAS. They lost, appealed, and lost again. The international community is quite clear."

IOC had previously recommended that FIDE complies with an earlier decision by the Olympic body that sanctions against Russia in sport remain in place, according to the BBC.

In the end the Kyrgyz proposal to lift sanctions only had support from 21 out of 150 delegates. "Our chess federation will continue to work so that ultimately all sanctions are lifted," Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Tass, adding: "Unfortunately, FIDE is also not free from the politicization of sports and the politicization of the world of chess."

The first day of the General Assembly was dedicated to elections, most notably for the important position as chairperson of the Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC), the independent body within the organization responsible for addressing ethical and disciplinary matters related to chess.

The three candidates for the position were current EDC member Yolander Persaud from Guyana, Tolbaev from Kyrgyzstan, and Daniel Florea from Romania. Chessdom previously reported that Florea is a parliament member for AUR in Romania, a pro-Kremlin, right-wing, and nationalist political party.

The first voting started with chaos as the electronic voting system reported 220 votes out of 170 eligible delegates and they had to switch to manual voting. "A farce," Pein wrote on X/Twitter.

He had earlier criticized not being allowed to ask questions to the candidates: "This is a very important post. Maybe the most important post in the organization. And it is not a good look for us if the members of the General Assembly cannot ask questions to the candidates, particularly when we have received their CVs less than 24 hours before the meeting. It really looks bad."

In the end Persaud was elected with 86 votes, while Florea received 75 votes.

#chess #FIDE This is the first crucial election which #Russia is ever losing on GA level during the last 30 years (at least). Let that sink in. ⤵️https://t.co/0ZZhQ6Nwsh

— George Mastrokoukos (@GMastrokoukos) September 21, 2024

Among other decisions taken at the General Assembly was to accept an application from the Greenland Chess Federation to become an affiliated member of FIDE. There was also support for the proposal from Kazakhstan Chess Federation President Timur Turlov to make The International School Chess Federation (ISCF) a FIDE-affiliated organization.