The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ordered the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) to cease organizing chess competitions in Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation — Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia — following an appeal by the Ukrainian Chess Federation (UCF), Politico reports.
The ruling overturns a penalty of €45,000 that the International Chess Federation (FIDE) had imposed on the RCF after its own committee found Russia had violated Ukraine's territorial integrity. CAS dismissed that sanction as "evidently and grossly disproportionate" given the severity of the violations and gave the RCF a 90-day deadline to halt its activities in the occupied regions.
UCF President Oleksandr Kamyshin — who also serves as a non-staff adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on strategic issues — described the ruling as "principle-setting." "CAS has confirmed that no international federation can turn a blind eye to actions that attempt to legitimize occupation," he told Politico. "It sends a strong signal that aggression cannot be normalized through sporting institutions."
Kamyshin added that the precedent extends beyond chess: "This ruling significantly limits Russia's ability to use sport as a tool to legitimize its occupation. Equally important, it establishes an important legal position that other federations can rely on in similar cases."
The legal campaign
The case was led by Ukrainian grandmaster Andrii Baryshpolets and Danish grandmaster and coach Peter Heine Nielsen, with pro bono representation from American law firm Covington & Burling.
Nielsen challenged the framing that had previously been applied to Russia's chess activity in occupied territories. "It was important to establish that Russia organizing chess in occupied territories was not 'humanitarian,' as FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich once described it," he said. "Russia organizes chess systematically in occupied territory and uses it for propaganda."
Nielsen also described the broader significance of the verdict: "This ruling demonstrates that no matter how the Kremlin may view these regions, they will not be considered part of Russia for everyday life, including sports, culture, or chess."
Ukraine's Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi stated that the ruling reinforces Ukraine's territorial integrity in the sporting sphere and lays the groundwork for additional lawsuits against Russian sports federations operating in occupied territories.
Russia signals defiance — and a decision for FIDE
The RCF has indicated it does not intend to comply. "We live according to the laws of the Russian Federation. We have complied with them, we are complying with them, and we will continue to comply with them," Alexander Tkachev, executive director of the RCF, said, noting that the CAS ruling "contradicts Russian law."
CAS stipulated that non-compliance should result in the immediate suspension of Russia's FIDE membership for three years, forcing a choice between halting tournament activity in occupied regions or losing international standing in the sport.
What FIDE does next remains unclear. In a statement to Politico, the federation said it "respects the authority of CAS and will act in accordance with its rulings and the applicable FIDE regulations," adding that compliance "will be handled through FIDE's established regulatory and governance processes."
Nielsen was more candid about the uncertainty: "What does FIDE do then? By CAS decision, they should immediately suspend the Russian Federation's membership. However, the more likely scenario is that the Russian-led federation will try to avoid that. I, honestly, do not know what happens next then."
