The Kremlin has called for chess star Sergey Karjakin’s ban to be overturned. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) banned the Russian grandmaster from competing for six months following his comments on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, who is the spokesperson for President Putin and also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Chess Federation, called for a change to the decision. He told Russian news agency TASS that chess "must be beyond politics.”
Peskov then added: "We regret this. We call on FIDE to reconsider this decision and still remain out of politics, thereby confirming the international prestige of this chess organisation. Naturally, we disagree with this decision."
Karjakin, 32, has drawn ire from the chess world for his comments regarding Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine. In a series of posts, he repeatedly accused Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky of committing war crimes, for which he is now being punished. “Sergey Karjakin is found guilty of breach of article 2.2.10 of the FIDE code of ethics, and is sanctioned to a worldwide ban of six months from participating as a player in any FIDE rated chess competition, taking effect from the date of this decision, 21 March 2022,” the governing body’s statement said.
“The statements by Sergey Karjakin on the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine have led to a considerable number of reactions on social media and elsewhere, to a large extent negative towards the opinions expressed.” Karjakin, who was born in Crimea and represented Ukraine until 2009, blasted the decision and claims he does not regret expressing his point of view.
“An expected, but no less shameful decision by FIDE,” said Karjakin. “All sports selections have been trampled, the basic principle that sport is out of politics has been trampled. Most importantly, first of all I am a patriot of my country and only second of all I am an athlete. If I thought back to the situation when I supported the president of Russia, the people and the army I would have done the same thing! I don’t regret anything.”
