Reuters —
The governing body of world chess has suspended Russia, which was for decades the dominant force in the game, after a ruling by the world’s top sports tribunal in favour of Ukraine.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in March upheld a complaint by Ukraine that Russia’s chess federation had usurped control of the game in areas of Ukraine captured by the Russian military. It gave Russia 90 days to hand back control of chess bodies in five regions and stop holding tournaments there.
On Wednesday the International Chess Federation (FIDE) - which is headed by Russia’s former deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich - said Russia had not met the deadline and its FIDE membership was therefore suspended with immediate effect.
The Ukrainian chess federation hailed the decision as a “historic victory,” but some critics of Dvorkovich accused him of merely appearing to enforce the CAS ruling while actually creating a new loophole to benefit Russian players.
