Idman.biz
At the General Assembly of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Azerbaijan was among the countries that supported a compromise decision on the admission of Russian and Belarusian chess players to international competitions.
According to Idman.Biz, the proposal to comply with the recommendations of the FIDE Council and the International Olympic Committee was put forward by FIDE First Vice President Viswanathan Anand, as well as representatives of Kenya, Azerbaijan, Barbados and India.
It should be noted that during the voting, Azerbaijan was represented by the president of the national chess federation, and also the FIDE vice-president Mahir Mammadov.
Earlier, the Russian Chess Federation proposed the complete lifting of all sanctions applied to Russian and Belarusian chess players, including the ban on participation in team competitions under the national flag. The FIDE Council supported partial liberalization, allowing junior chess players to perform with national symbols, and adult national teams to participate in team tournaments with neutral status.
Representatives of Ukraine, Norway, England, Germany and a number of other countries, as well as the head of the European Chess Union Zurab Azmaiparashvili, protested against the complete lifting of restrictions.
It should be noted that Zurab Azmaiparashvili was previously closely associated with Azerbaijani chess and served as the captain of the Azerbaijani national men's team. In particular, in 2009, under his leadership, the Azerbaijani national team became the European champion for the first time in its history.
As a result, 61 representatives voted in favor of lifting all restrictions, and 51 voted against. After that, the majority of participants supported the option of allowing Russian chess players to participate in competitions under a neutral flag. The adoption of the final decision has been postponed for further consultations.
Teymur Tushiyev
