Kremlin accuses Ukraine, West of putting pressure on world chess body

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Kremlin on Monday accused Ukraine and the West of putting pressure on the International Chess Federation (FIDE) amid a decision by the world chess body to uphold a ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

"The West and Ukraine are putting open and undisguised pressure on countries within FIDE. This is no secret, and everyone knows it well,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a press briefing in Moscow.

Expressing that FIDE is also “not free from the politicization of sports,” Peskov said that Russia’s chess federation will continue to work to lift all sanctions imposed on the country.

“We hope that this work will eventually yield results and the balance of power in FIDE will change in this particular case,” he added.

He praised Kyrgyzstan’s proposal to FIDE to lift all sanctions on Russian and Belarusian players, saying Russia knows the central Asian country is “not the only country that supports us.”

On Sunday, FIDE’s general assembly voted to uphold a ban imposed in March 2022, soon after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, preventing Russian and Belarusian players from participating in official FIDE tournaments until further notice.

Last Tuesday, Ukraine sent a letter to FIDE calling on the body to uphold its ban on Russia and Belarus.

"As long as Russian troops, with the support of Belarus, conduct their brutal war against the Ukrainian реорІе, the ban оn the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes must bе upheld," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in the letter.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​