ABU DHABI, UAE – The General Assembly of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) on Tuesday granted the membership bid of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF).
A total of 29 delegates voted in favor of admitting the RCF, one against, and six abstained during the voting held in Abu Dhabi.
RCF executive director Mark Glukhovsky told TASS that the move to join the ACF will likely be signed in May.
"The RCF joined Asia de-facto after the RCF Supervisory Board voted in favor of it," Glukhovsky said. "But, de-jure, the assimilation (with the ACF) will take place in May, after all legal and bureaucratic formalities are settled."
Among the ACF’s member states are national chess federations representing Australia, China, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, and many others.
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said the ACF’s decision was a positive outcome for national athletes.
"The Russian Chess Federation’s move to leave the European Chess Union (ECU) and join the Asian Chess Federation was a positive and a significant decision. It primarily benefitted our athletes," Matytsin said.
"The priority task is to see Russian chess players being eligible playing at global tournaments displaying their skills in matches against their strong and decent opponents."
He said the Asian chess school is developing rapidly and it skyrockets, with great successes shown by representatives from India and China.
"Russia’s skilled chess players have also something to offer at the competitive level, as well as at the level of the further development and popularization of the sport of chess,” he said.
On March 16, 2022, the FIDE barred athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international tournaments. The organization, however, allowed representatives of these countries to play individually under the flag and logo of FIDE.
On Feb. 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments referring to a special military operation in Ukraine.
Following the IOC recommendations in late February, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments. (TASS)
