FIDE postpones decision on easing sanctions against Russian chess players

BUDAPEST, September 22. /TASS/. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) will hold consultations with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on partial qualification of Russian and Belarussian athletes for team events, according to the voting results at the FIDE General Assembly in Budapest.
Partial qualification means that children under 12 and athletes with disabilities from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to take part in team competitions. The General Assembly however voted down the proposal on full-fledged qualification of Russian and Belarusian players for FIDE tournaments, which was advanced by President of the Kyrgyz Chess Federation Babur Tolbayev in August.
Sixty-six delegates voted in favor of consultations with the IOC and IPC on the partial qualification of Russian and Belarussian chess players. Forty-one delegates voted for keeping the sanctions in place, twenty-one were for the complete lifting of the sanctions, and eleven abstained.
On February 28, 2022, FIDE allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international tournaments in a neutral status and announced that it would not hold official chess events in Russia or Belarus. On March 16, 2022, FIDE barred Russian and Belarusian teams from participating in tournaments under its flag. The decision has been repeatedly extended, now it is in force until January 1, 2025.
On June 7, FIDE suspended the membership of the Russian Chess Federation for two years after it had admitted chess federations from Russia’s new territories. The Russian federation challenged the FIDE Ethics Commission’s decision and demanded it be fully reelected. On September 13, the Appeal Chamber of the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission satisfied the Russian federation’s appeal and cancelled the earlier decision.