He further added that AICF was the first party to support Anand’s candidature for the post of Vice President. According to FIDE rules, a federation can only nominate one person. Nor can it be withdrawn under any circumstances.
The Delhi High Court on a complaint filed a judgment against Chauhan a few days ago. It paralyzed his activities as AICF secretary. However this is unlikely to have any impact on the Chess Olympiad process. It is the largest sporting event in India with 188 countries participating.
Vipnesh Bhardwaj, who took over as secretary after the court order, criticized the news, saying, “History is a little deep. It is not just for chess. It is a ploy of opposition members to tarnish the reputation of not only AICF but also our country.”
“This is the first time that Indian teams have received Rs 2 crore sponsorship for the Olympics. Opposition parties could not tolerate this and so they are resorting to such tactics,” the AICF said.
Chairman Dr. Sanjay Kapoor praised Chauhan, saying, “Over the past year and a half, I have witnessed his dedication, hard work and 24×7 service in the game of chess. This is a blatant lie by some opponents who tarnish the reputation of the AICF.”
“We are trying to find the source of this rumor. We will find the culprit and report it to the police as soon as possible. For now we will focus only on the Olympiad. Our team is working on this 24 hours a day. The nation should participate in this huge sporting event. Those who spread such rumors are anti-national,” Chauhan said.