At its meeting in Budapest on 18 September, the ECU Board issued the following statement in connection with the discussion on the IOC sanctions against Russia and Belarus and the violation of the sports jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Chess Federation.
“The ECU resolves to maintain the sanctions on Russia and Belarus, in accordance with IOC policy, to protect the integrity of FIDE. The ECU requests the FIDE GA to maintain the sanctions on Russia and Belarus imposed by the FIDE Council in 2022.
The ECU regrets the decision of the secondary FIDE disciplinary panel of FIDE that effectively allows the Russian Chess Federation to continue to operate within and adopt in its structure, territories that belong to Ukraine and are under the sports jurisdiction of the Ukraine Chess Federation. This violates the IOC Charter, the FIDE Statutes and the territorial integrity of a ECU federation member. Additionally, these activities of the RCF are considered by international organisations as facilitation of an illegal military occupation.
We ask the FIDE Council to demand the Russian Chess Federation to cease any operations in Ukrainian territory and in the case of non-compliance to suspend the Russian Chess Federation with immediate effect.”