FIFA/FIDE?

[Mike Truran]

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/201506 ... -like-fifa

[NickFaulks]

FIFA/ECF?

[Roger de Coverly]

It reminds me rather more of the downfall of Campomanes. A controversial President survives a potentially difficult re-election only to stand down within a few months.

ECF Board members have had limited longevity in recent years, which probably explains why they keep running into the same problems of communicating with British and English chess players.

[Nick Burrows]

There are strong resemblances between the FIDE & FIFA voting systems, which make real democratic change nigh on impossible.

[Roger de Coverly]

There are strong resemblances between the FIDE & FIFA voting systems, which make real democratic change nigh on impossible.

If for this purpose you classify chess as a sport, the top three world sporting bodies in terms of numbers are the IOC, FIFA and FIDE. FIDE handicaps itself in the bragging sense of who is the biggest by following the IOC definition as to what constitutes a country for sporting purposes, namely that it has to have an national Olympic committee which requires UN membership for new applicants.

The UK, Crown Dependencies and Republic of Ireland muster five members of FIFA, but six members of FIDE. FIDE turned down Northern Ireland (a member of FIFA), the Isle of Man and Gibraltar (member of UEFA).

But I agree, one country one vote, gives far too much power in proportion to their activity ,fan and player base to the representatives of small countries.

[Chris Rice]

It reminds me rather more of the downfall of Campomanes. A controversial President survives a potentially difficult re-election only to stand down within a few months.

It reminds me of that too. KI got in on the basis of "anyone has to be better than Campomanes" even though few knew anything about him. The Special One was going to eat mutton and drink vodka with Kasparov and Karpov beside a roaring Mongol fire and the whole chess world was going to be one big happy family. How did that work out? Let's hope FIFA don't make the same mistake.

Great tweet from Jon Manley https://twitter.com/KingpinEd/status/60 ... 99/photo/1

[Jonathan Bryant]

... Kasparov and Karpov beside a roaring Mongol fire and the whole chess world was going to be one big happy family ...

There’s a lot of that in the chess world. And an English equivalent too, albeit at the more humble of de Mooi and Paulson. Our current president doesn’t seem to have caused too much of a kerfuffle though. Which is something.

[Matthew Turner]

Another perspective on Blatter from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32928984

Maybe (hopefully?) some similarities to FIDE there too.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Though you could ask if FIDE has ever done anything *quite* as outrageous as giving the 2022 WC to Qatar......

[Matthew Turner]

You are probably right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIDE_World ... nship_2004

[Matt Mackenzie]

Ah, forgot about that.

Though it should be remembered that Gaddafi was being "rehabilitated" by the "world community" at that time, so it wasn't just FIDE.

The abortive proposal to hold a match in Iraq a few years earlier was probably more outrageous......

[JustinHorton]

Another perspective on Blatter from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32928984

Maybe (hopefully?) some similarities to FIDE there too.

What a good piece.

[JonManley]

More here http://www.kingpinchess.net/2013/09/we-are-family/

[NickFaulks]

Another perspective on Blatter from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32928984

Maybe (hopefully?) some similarities to FIDE there too.

Yes, it is a sensible piece. Taken at face value, it makes you wonder what purpose was served by all the corruption.

As to the similarlties with FIDE ( hopefully? - what exactly are you hoping for? ) the world governing body has certainly brought chess along a great deal in Africa, and this is widely perceived there as the President's personal doing. Nonetheless, in the 2014 election Kasparov made greater inroads in Africa than any other continent. How does that fit the template?

[NickFaulks]

More here http://www.kingpinchess.net/2013/09/we-are-family/

This, however, is just recycled innuendo, third rate journalism worthy of Graham Hillyard. I can remember when Kingpin was the Private Eye of chess, a lot better than this.