Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Matvyi Bidnyi expressed his satisfaction with the decision of the European Chess Union to extend sanctions against chess players from Russia and Belarus. This decision became an important step in the fight for justice and support of the international sports community.
The Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Matvyi Bidnyi, welcomed the recent decision of the European Chess Union to extend sanctions against the chess federations of Russia and Belarus. The ECU called on the International Chess Federation to maintain the restrictions introduced in 2022, and also condemned the actions of the Russian Chess Federation, which included the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories in its structure.
I sincerely welcome the fair statement of the European Chess Union to extend the sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian chess federations on the eve of the FIDE General Assembly. We must jointly prevent the return of agents of Russia's hybrid influence to the international sports community while the war unleashed by the Russian Federation and supported by the Russian Federation continues against Ukraine. Sanctions against Russia and Belarus should only increase as long as the war continues, because dictatorial regimes are trying to legitimize the war against Ukraine, using sports and athletes for this
The minister announced an initiative to introduce personal sanctions against FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich if Russian chess players are allowed to compete in international competitions.
The President of the Chess Federation of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin also expressed his support for ECU's decision. He emphasized that the return of Russians to international tournaments is unacceptable.
The European Chess Union condemned the actions of the Russian Chess Federation and called on FIDE to take measures to stop their activities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
