Following the proposal of the Kyrgyz Chess Federation to lift sanctions against Russian and Belarusian chess players in FIDE, FIDE General Assembly will have to address the issue. Kyrgyz Chess Federation asks for secret voting, while FIDE charter clearly says that all decisions by FIDE GA are taken by open vote (except from the elections for the President and members of the Council). Regardless of the clear rules imposed by FIDE statute, it is unclear what will happen at the FIDE General Assembly which is scheduled for 21-22 September, 2024.
Ukrainian chess players signed an open letter asking FIDE to remove the item from the General Assembly Agenda, but the Russian News Agency TASS reports that the issue will be discussed despite FIDE Council’s recommendation to reject the Kyrgyz Chess Federation proposal. “The final consideration of all proposals will take place at the General Assembly. The FIDE Council is only preparing recommendations for the work of the Assembly. In its discussion, the Council focused on the humanitarian aspects of the current situation. At present, the final resolutions following the Council meeting have not yet been approved“, reads FIDE statement sent to TASS.
This means that the proposal of lifting sanctions against Russian and Belarusian players will remain in force, and that the decision of the FIDE Council can be challenged and opposed by the FIDE General Assembly. If the proposal passes the Assembly, FIDE will be in risk of losing IOC recognition.
European Chess Union today published a strong statement, requesting FIDE General Assembly to keep sanctions against Russia and Belarus. Further on, ECU asks FIDE to demand Russian Chess Federation to cease any operations in Ukrainian territory. In case of non-compliance, ECU urges FIDE to suspend the Russian Chess Federation with the immediate effect.
While the Norwegian Chess Federation rejected the Kyrgyz Chess Federation proposal, the German Chess Federation published a press release, clearly stating that theย German Chess Federation is against the return of the Russian and Belarusian chess players without restrictions. The President of the German Chess Federation Ingrid Lauterbach explained that the proposal is absurd: โI think it is absurd that this application was even made, and now I hope that common sense prevailsโ.
