Commenting on the Elections for the Chairperson of the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission that took place yesterday, ECU Secretary General share his thoughts in his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Tsorbatzoglou emphasized that Yolander Persaud, who was elected the new Chair of the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission, became a role model for inclusion and equality in chess: “She decided to run in the elections for the chair of FIDE Ethics commission against 3 very experienced and well-known male colleagues and was the absolute underdog till the end”. Read the full statement below.
Yesterday (a few hours ago actually) a 34 year old lawyer and chess player from Guyana, Ms Yolander Persaud, became a role model for inclusion and equality in chess with the unexpected decision and will of 86 delegates at the FIDE General Assembly.
She decided to run in the elections for the chair of FIDE Ethics commission against 3 very experienced and well-known male colleagues and was the absolute underdog till the end. One of her colleagues, the well-known Johan Sigeman, withdrew at the beginning of the proceedings after being criticised hardly by FIDE officials and the Russian Chess Federation. It was about the decision of FIDE’s first disciplinary commission to ask the Russian Federation to do the obvious according to international sports laws and FIDE statutes. To cease all activities in militarily occupied territories of another country (Ukraine) where fighting is still going on. The other two candidates who remained in race had the “unofficial” support of FIDE’s main centre of power. But Yollander received a revolutionary vote and overwhelming support from all those who believed that something should be changed and were not cordinated in advance.
For those who believed that a young woman can make the job (sports justice) the same good or even better from more experienced colleagues. While she received 77 votes in the first round (about 48%, she needed 50.1 votes to be elected) and her second colleague received 59 votes (about 35%), she prevailed in the second round, which was still very close, with 86 votes against 75.
A few months ago, it was stated that the GA would overturn the decision of the first Disciplinary Committee, of which Yollander was also a member. However, the exact opposite happened, the GA effectively legalised the decision of the first panel and overturned the decision of the second panel (monetary penalty without any demand to cease activities) on an ethical basis. Ultimately, the FIDE delegates has achieved what many other actions have not. Tolerance, integrity, integration, justice.