The Norwegian Chess Federation was one of the candidates to host the 2024 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship, however, they decided to withdraw from the bidding process, reported one of the largest newspapers in Norway, Aftenposten.
As Aftenposten writes, the Norwegian Chess Federation is following the policy of all Nordic federations not to allow Russians and Belarussians to participate in the events held on their soil. The decision not to register players would not be acceptable for FIDE which allows Russians and Belarusians to play under a neutral flag. Moreover, if Russian and Belarusian players were allowed to participate in the event, the Norwegian Chess Federation would be left without state aid in organizing the tournament.
It is not a secret that finding the organizer for the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship is not an easy task. The tournament features a total prize fund of $1,000,000 and it often happens for the event to be last-minute announced. For that reason, FIDE needed to close their eyes on some hosting country policies. For example, the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2023 was organized in Uzbekistan, known for LGBT criminalization. It seems that not allowing Russian and Belarusian players to compete in the event was too discriminatory for FIDE, and the event will need to look for another host.
