Minister of Youth and Sports Matvii Bidnii, Foreign Minister Andrii Sibiha, and President of the Chess Federation Oleksandr Kamyshin have signed a letter to the World Chess Federation (FIDE) urging the organization not to allow Russian and Belarusian chess federations to participate in competitions, as per Babel.
In the document, the Ukrainian officials said they are concerned about FIDE’s plans to consider resuming Russian and Belarusian participation in international competitions at the General Assembly in Budapest, Hungary, from 21 to 22 September 2024.
The Ukrainian officials have reminded that during the war, Russia has killed over 500 athletes and coaches, including 21 chess players, with two more chess players reported missing. They also emphasize that Belarus has been complicit in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
According to them, Russian and Belarusian sports organizations are tools for promoting the Russian state policy of aggression in their countries.
“Allowing them to compete would mean legitimizing the war these countries are waging,” the letter states.
Ukraine has called on the World Chess Federation to continue suspending athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international competitions.
On 10 September, the 45th Chess Olympiad opened in Budapest. The World Chess Federation is scheduled to hold a meeting to discuss, among other issues, the “full restoration of the rights of the national chess federations of Russia and Belarus.”
It concerns the return of the right for these countries’ teams to compete in international tournaments under their national flags and with their national anthems.
Additionally, Russia and Belarus seek to regain the right to host international tournaments under FIDE’s auspices on their territories. Currently, Russian and Belarusian chess players can only participate in tournaments under the neutral FIDE flag.
