Moscow advances its pawns on the chessboard of sports and culture – Libération

2024-09-22 06:10:00

War between Ukraine and Russiadossier

The International Chess Federation plans to reunite Russia, which was excluded in 2022, this Sunday, September 22 in Budapest. Ukrainians, in counterattack, oppose the return of soft power in major sports and cultural events.

Insiders call it a blitz. It did not take more than a few days, after the closing of the Paris games, for the International Chess Federation (FIDE), although it is associated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to go on the offensive to try to return to it. fold the Russian Chess Federation. The latter was sanctioned in 2022, and was temporarily excluded from the international organization, following the invasion of Ukraine and the organization of tournaments in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. But through the behind-the-scenes legal system, Fide is preparing to re-do the Russians on Sunday, during the general assembly that will be held in Budapest.

The program of the General Assembly, in the lands of Viktor Orbán, pawn Putin’s strategy in the European game, could not be more clear: “Restore full rights to the chess nations of Russia and Belarus”so that they can participate in national competitions under their flag and to the sound of their anthem. Fide will reconsider allowing Russia and Belarus to host international chess tournaments, as the Russians have organized more than 2,600 events in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea in the past two years, while struggling to integrate the an artist from the occupied Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.

In Kyiv, the issue is very important and the heavyweights are stepping up to the plate. Also Oleksandr Kamyshin, special adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky for strategic institutions, and President of the Ukrainian Chess Federation. “This is a difficult and important battle, comments Kamyshin, a trusted man of the President of Ukraine, who will be in Budapest to face the logic. Russian and Belarusian flags have no place in the matches, The Russian anthem has no right to be played in the free world and no self-respecting artist who values ​​his reputation will travel to a country that kills citizens from another country every day. “

“This flag represents cruelty”

Citizens, but also athletes. According to the Ukrainian Sports Ministry, more than 500 top Ukrainian athletes and coaches were killed in the war, including 21 top chess players, with two others missing. The legend of discipline, world champion Garry Kasparov has lived: “I am proud to play under the new flag of Russia [après la chute de l’URSS]but today this flag represents cruelty and murderhe writes on the X network. We must fight attempts to normalize Russia’s image. It is possible that some Russians are pursuing a movement, even one that I love very much, cannot exceed the blood of Ukrainians.”

The issue is highly political. And for good reason, Fide, which calls for the renewal of the Russian Federation, is itself… chaired by a Russian, Arkadi Dvorkovich, with a unique CV: former deputy prime minister of Vladimir Putin. The latter only get one “blame” in 2022. This does not prevent him from participating publicly in the events of the Russian Chess Federation, which Sergei Shoigu, targeted by an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and Dmitri Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, all these little ones. a person who likes to meet under the stucco of the famous Chess Central, on Gogol Boulevard in Moscow.

“Nothing has changed”

On September 12, the appeals chamber of the Fide Ethics and Disciplinary Commission published a document canceling the sanctions against the Russian Chess Federation, and against Dvorkovich, with the Kyrgyz Federation rushing to officially request the clean and simple restoration of Russia to Fide, which will be an example in the world of sports from 2022. On the Ukrainian side, they are preparing their weapons. “Our situation is as follows: if you accept these sanctions because the war started and it continues, nothing has changed today to change this initial situation,” said Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

While we have noticed recent attempts at the return of Russia in many institutions in the world of entertainment and culture, especially international film festivals, such as the Venice Film Festival or the Toronto Tiff, many Ukrainian officials have asked ask Fide to reconsider his plan. . “If we reject this appeal, this will be a sufficient basis to consider sanctions against the President of the International Chess Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich, and we will confront our partners on this matter,” warned Heorhii Tykhyi. Thursday in Budapest, the world champion, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, won the Fide prize for the best chess player of the last 100 years, presented by … Arkadi Dvorkovich. Under the eyes of the latter and in front of the assembly, he took the opportunity to speak out “against the restoration of chess clubs of Russia and Belarus”.