Iran Chess on Brink of Suspension; FIDE Vice President to Voice of America: Iran Flagrantly Violates International Rules
While Iranian athletes in recent years have resorted to various tactics to avoid facing Israeli athletes, now after the Judo Federation, the Iranian Chess Federation is on the verge of suspension.
Nigel Short, Vice President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), in an interview with the Farsi service of Voice of America regarding details of the news about the possible suspension of the Iranian Chess Federation, said: “We are an international body and we have our regulations. Iran flagrantly and continuously violates them. This issue has received attention in recent years. Since FIDE had for decades an informal and unwritten policy on ‘forbidden encounters’ and deliberately did not pit certain specific countries against Israel. We tried to change this.”
Referring to the fact that this issue has received more attention in recent years, he said: “We believe that this is sport and sport should be free from discrimination like justice, and you should play with people regardless of where they come from and what background they have. We have a firm policy on non-discrimination. When we changed our policy, we found that Iran has continuously and repeatedly violated the regulations.”
Short continued, stating that if the Iranian Chess Federation does not change its stance, it will face suspension, adding that Iran will remain under suspension until it guarantees that such incidents will not happen again.
He pointed to the lack of transparent response from Iranian sports officials to questions about athletes competing with Israeli athletes and said: “They say: we are subject to FIDE; but it is clear that is not the case.”
He added: “We know what consequences the few cases in which Iranians have played against [Israeli] athletes have faced. A few players participated in a competition in Spain… Parham Maghsoudloo and another young chess grandmaster in Spain played against Israel and when they returned, the Revolutionary Guards were waiting for them. We are aware of these unpleasant consequences.”
Previously, several prominent Iranian national chess players including Ghazal Hakimifar and Alireza Firouzja chose to compete under the FIDE flag due to pressures to avoid facing Israeli athletes. Shahre Bayat, an international chess arbiter from Iran, and Mitra Hejazipour also did not return to Iran due to removing their hijab in international competitions.
Nigel Short referred to the case of Alireza Firouzja, Iran’s chess grandmaster, and said that in 2019 he was forced to forfeit his game, after which he requested to play under the FIDE flag. He added: “We made it completely clear that if he wants to play under the FIDE flag, he must be subject to FIDE regulations.”
This official of the world chess federation, emphasizing that the world federation does not want politics to enter sports, added: “If other Iranian players also want to be subject to FIDE rules and play against any player from anywhere, we welcome them and accept them.”
Previously, Arkady Dvorkovich, President of the International Chess Federation, had warned the Iranian Federation that dodging competition with Israeli athletes is a blatant example of discrimination in sports, and if such behavior continues, he cannot prevent the suspension of the Iranian Chess Federation. However, in response, the head of the Iranian Chess Federation had claimed that “the federation and Iranian sports officials have no involvement in this matter.”
Now, the Vice President of the International Chess Federation is discussing the case of Iranian athletes not facing Israeli competitors, saying that sometimes “very dirty political games” occur. Referring to the case of Aryan Gholami, one of Iran’s chess players, he said that after he did not face an Israeli player in the Rilton Cup tournament in Sweden and when he returned to his country, he was welcomed at the airport like a champion and all media and officials were present.
Nigel Short also emphasized that Gholami’s statements against Israel were “extensive political propaganda and a very ugly statement. This is highly unacceptable.”
Pressure on Iranian sports with political objectives has been applied openly and covertly by the Islamic Republic authorities for many years. Including Khamenei, who in a meeting with Iranian medal-winning athletes, while emphasizing that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not participate in sports competitions with representatives of Israel, described athletes who do not take the field against Israeli athletes as, alongside their championships, “humble, religious, revolutionary, pioneering, and family-oriented.”
The Vice President of the International Chess Federation, stating that if athletes of any country that has disputes with another country refuse to face athletes from that other country, it will create chaos, once again emphasized the impartiality of this sports federation.
However, over all these years, Iranian sports has used various tactics such as sudden injuries and even intentional losses to avoid the bitter taste of deprivation due to not appearing against their rivals. Although it seems that these days the international sports community has more eye on the performance of Iranian sports.
Despite this concealment, cases such as the forced loss of Saeid Mollaei to avoid facing an Israeli athlete and his disclosure in this regard caused Iran to be deprived of participation in all international judo competitions.
This action was supported by the U.S. State Department and Morgan Ortagus tweeted: “Participation in sports competitions should not be accompanied by fear of retaliation from cowardly thugs.”
Source: Voice of America
