Russia banned by WADA

[Roger de Coverly]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... oping.html

This may have some impact on the Candidates and the next Olympiad.

FIDE say the contracts are already signed and that's the get out clause.

https://www.fide.com/news/229

[Roger Lancaster]

Doubtful. Even football events such as Euro 2020, where Russian cities are hosts, fall outside the ban.

[NickFaulks]

FIDE say the contracts are already signed

For the Olympiad? They should be able to tell us the venue, then.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Good to see WADA try to restore their reputation (and good luck with that).

But there are so many exceptions, will anything happen?

It does show the main problem of trying to call chess a sport, you end up with pointless "anti-doping" interventions.

[Tim Harding]

FIDE say the contracts are already signed

For the Olympiad? They should be able to tell us the venue, then.

??? They announced it on 12 November.
Moscow for the main competition, preceded by FIDE Congress and Chess Paralympiad in Khanty,

https://www.fide.com/news/200

[NickFaulks]

??? They announced it on 12 November.

I mean the precise venue. If they have a contract they would know that, right? Not just "somewhere in or around Moscow".

[Chris Rice]

There appears to be a bit of scrambling going on within FIDE. Sutovsky has posted on FB "please rest assured that FIDE is not going to relocate or God forbid cancel our events scheduled to take place in Russia in 2020. We have consulted FIDE lawyers and also an external respectable Swiss bureau, and there is a clear unanimous opinion about it. And this is in a full accord with the formal decision of WADA, regarding the events already scheduled and confirmed.
We will keep working closely with WADA and IOC, respecting their decisions."

Now if FIDE are going to agree to rulings made by WADA and the IOC (note that FIDE need this body as it supplies funding for a number of the national federations) then this raises a couple of questions. If the events do go ahead then there is the question of whether Russian teams and Russian flags will be present. Then there is the question of whether Arkady Dvorkovich can be classed as a representative of the Russian government and if he is then as a Russian official he cannot be a member of any councils or committees, or any other units of the international sports federations that have signed the WADA code. Basically he would be forced to resign as FIDE President.

[NickFaulks]

Then there is the question of whether Arkady Dvorkovich can be classed as a representative of the Russian government

But he isn't.

[NickFaulks]

An announcement appeared briefly on the FIDE website before being taken down.

https://fide.com/news/229

[Chris Rice]

An announcement appeared briefly on the FIDE website before being taken down.

https://fide.com/news/229

Taken down because it shouldn't have been posted in the first place. The WADA release from yesterday is of course going to be appealed by the Russians but at present there is difficulty interpreting what all the consequences are. The sentence under the heading Series of Consequences many are arguing is the route that Dvorkovich took to get the FIDE Presidency:
"Russian Government officials/representatives may not be appointed to sit and may not sit as members of the boards or committees or any other bodies of any Code Signatory (or its members) or association of Signatories."

Whether this actually applies to Dvorkovich or not is open to debate. There is no denying he was a high ranking member of the Russian government not so long ago. Personally I think he's done a good job so far so I wouldn't like to see him removed but as I say there are many who don't see it that way.

[NickFaulks]

Personally I think he's done a good job so far

What makes you say that? Just asking.

[David Sedgwick]

Personally I think [that Dvorkovich has] done a good job so far

I presume that you are not a regular user of the FIDE website.

[JustinHorton]

An announcement appeared briefly on the FIDE website before being taken down.

https://fide.com/news/229

Taken down because it shouldn't have been posted in the first place. The WADA release from yesterday is of course going to be appealed by the Russians but at present there is difficulty interpreting what all the consequences are. The sentence under the heading Series of Consequences many are arguing is the route that Dvorkovich took to get the FIDE Presidency:
"Russian Government officials/representatives may not be appointed to sit and may not sit as members of the boards or committees or any other bodies of any Code Signatory (or its members) or association of Signatories."

I also see

Russia’s flag may not be flown at any Major Event staged in the Four-Year Period

which is going to be interesting (assuming I understand what a Major Event is and that it includes, say, the Olympiad).

[Roger de Coverly]

which is going to be interesting (assuming I understand what a Major Event is and that it includes, say, the Olympiad).

It would potentially be possible to accept the verdict of British and possibly American Courts, that Chess was not a sport and thus two fingers to WADA.

Bad news for those Federations who joined national Olympic Committees.

[JustinHorton]

FIDE is a signatory to the WADA Code, so I don't think that's going to happen.