MOSCOW, March 25 Russian and Belarusian grandmasters can compete at the European Championship in Slovenia under the flag of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) or another national federation, according to the website of the European Chess Union (ECU). Earlier, the Ukrainian Chess Federation in an open letter stated that it refuses to play with Russian and Belarusian athletes, regardless of what flag they are under. will compete.» Chess players with Russian or Belarusian citizenship can play under the flag of another federation. We have no right to remove athletes from other European federations because of their passport. Players playing under the FIDE flag are subject to a special article of the regulations. This article was used players such as Alireza Firouzja, Vladislav Kovalev and others to continue their careers and leave the jurisdiction of the national federation. in our opinion, we cannot refuse participation of these players not only ethically but also legally, as this is an official transition procedure approved by the FIDE Council,» the statement said. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the end of February recommended that international sports federations not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions due to the situation around Russia and Ukraine. On March 3, the ECU announced the temporary suspension of the Chess Federation of Russia and Belarus and the exclusion of the teams of these countries from all tournaments under the auspices of the organization.
