Istanbul Chess Olympiad: Turkish Chess Fed bans officials from 7 'Anti-Fide' Federations

The Turkish Chess Federation has banned arbiters from seven countries from officiating at the Chess Olympiad due to take place from August 27 to September 10 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Federation has announced that they would not allow arbiters from France, England, Germany, Georgia, Ukraine, Switzerland and USA because these federations “launched or supported court cases against FIDE” which led to financial losses to FIDE and loss of funds that were meant for chess development.

The Fide website lists the names of the arbiters who have been accepted to officiate at the Istanbul Olympiad. An open letter written by the president of the Turkish Chess Federation, Nihat Yazici, is also published on the website.
Mr Yazici writes that he was invited to Athens to select arbiters. But, his federation refused to accept some officials. He says the refusals were not personal, but related to the well-being of chess development. He writes that several federations have launched and supported court cases against Fide and damaged development of chess. He says these federations should reimburse the funds thus lost by Fide.
Mr Yazici says his federation contributes to FIDE €50-100,000 every year. The Karpov versus FIDE case cost Fide about $ 1 million. The case “political in nature” was eventually dismissed, but it cost Fide. The case cited had disputed the validity of Mr Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s nomination and was supported by several federations.
A second case, that Mr Yazici refers to, is still pending. This case is about the Georgian Chess Federation and the English Chess Federation disputing the nomination of five Fide vice-presidents who were elected in October 2010. These five officials – Chu Bo, Ilya Levito, Israel Gelfer, Ali Nihat Yazici and Boris Kutin were nominated by Fide president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. However, the Fide charter states that the Fide president could nominate only two officials.
Edited by Staff Editor
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