1.
ACP Board [Wed May 26th, 18:27]
OPEN LETTER FROM THE ACP TO THE FIDE PRESIDENT, MR KIRSAN ILYUMZHINOV
Dear Mr President,
The next FIDE World Chess Championship (WCC), to be held in Tripoli (Libya),
between the 18th of June and the 13th of July 2004, is due to start soon and yet,
many pressing questions remain unanswered. To begin with, although the deadline
for reserve players to submit their undertakings has elapsed on the 5th of May
2004, no announcement has been made by FIDE regarding the final list of
participants. Three weeks after the deadline and less than a month prior to the
event, you will appreciate that such an announcement is long overdue. Secondly,
the qualified players holding an Israeli passport, some of them representing a
different country than Israel, are clearly concerned that they will not be
allowed to enter Libya and will, as a result, simply be excluded from the World
Championship.
Despite assurances from the FIDE Secretariat that visas will be granted to all
participants, several facts have recently cast serious doubts on this claim.
1) On the 6th of May 2004, Associated Press have quoted Mr Mohammed Gadhafi, the
President of the Libyan Olympic Committee, who also heads the Organizing
Committee of the FIDE WCC, as denying that Israeli participants would be allowed
inside Libya. The wording of the statement was very strong and left no doubt as
to its meaning: the Israeli players are not welcome in Libya.
2) Upon inquiry at the Libyan embassy in Paris, it has been confirmed that a
person applying for an entry visa to Libya should not have "an Israeli visa or a
trace of passage on Israeli territory" in his or her passport, let alone have an
Israeli passport. This necessarily implies that visas would be granted in
exceptional conditions for the sole purpose of the FIDE World Championship,
however, at this point in time, Libyan consular authorities do not seem to be
aware of such exceptional measures.
3) For unclear reasons, the participants of the WCC will not be able to obtain
their visas at any of the Libyan embassies in various parts of the world, but
only upon arrival at the Tripoli airport. This effectively compels the Israeli
participants to travel to an Arab country without possessing a visa, a most
unpleasant condition given the tense geopolitical situation in the Middle East.
4) The Israeli Chess Federation has been informed by FIDE that only Israeli
participants would be granted a Libyan visa, whereas accompanying persons
holding the same passport, such as trainers or close relatives, will be denied
entrance to Libya. This fact alone contradicts all rules of fair and equal
treatment to all participants of a major sports event, it is certainly in breach
with FIDE's Code of Ethics.
As the President of FIDE, an international sports federation affiliated to the
IOC, it is your duty to ensure that qualified competitors from all origins are
given equal access to the World Chess Championship. In view of the
abovementioned difficulties, the choice of staging the most important event on
the FIDE calendar in Libya is a poor one. Despite numerous open letters and
press releases emanating from several national federations (namely those from
the United States, Russia and Israel) and WCC participants themselves (namely
the American player Boris Gulko), FIDE has consistently refused to consider
reinstating Malta as a secondary venue. In the present circumstances, the
Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) demands that FIDE provide written
evidence from the Libyan authorities, unambiguously stating that Israeli players
will be granted a visa upon their arrival in Tripoli. In view of the problems
that have arisen since the publication of the official invitation from the
Libyan Olympic Committee, general formulas whereby the Libyan government "will
pleasantly provide entry visas to all qualified participants" is no longer
explicit enough. Unless that document is produced shortly, it is very unlikely
that Israeli players will agree on a hazardous journey to Libya and therefore,
they will be forced to renounce their participation in the WCC. At present, the
assumption prevails in the chess world that this is precisely the way FIDE hopes
this embarrassing problem will be settled. Such an outcome, however, would
greatly tarnish the reputation of FIDE among other sports federations and would
effectively render FIDE's acclaimed motto "Gens Una Sumus" totally meaningless.
It is our sincere hope that you, Mr President, will use your power to remedy
this situation and will not allow the exclusion of the Israeli players from the
World Chess Championship.
Sincerely,
Joel Lautier
President of the ACP
Paris, 26th of May 2004
2.
6/15/2004
FIDE
answer to the ACP Open Letter dated 8 June 2004
Elista, 8 June 2004
Mr. Joel Lautier
President of ACP
Dear Mr. Lautier,
I am aware of the fact that you have written an open letter to me where you
address some concerns regarding the forthcoming World Chess Championship in
Tripoli, Libya. I am not sure why you choose to contact me in this way through
the mass media, instead of normal means of communication, and for future
communication I suggest you contact me through the FIDE secretariat.
In your letter you "demand" that FIDE provide written evidence from the Libyan
authorities stating that Israeli players will be granted visa upon arrival in
Tripoli. First, Mr. Lautier, let me remind you that you are in no position to
make demands from FIDE. Second, I can assure you that the FIDE official
representatives upon my instructions and in close cooperation with the Libyan
organizer, have worked hard to secure that all players including the Israelis,
will get visa upon arrival.
The Libyan authorities has twice confirmed in writing that all qualified players
will get visa and based on my personal contact with the Libyan leader H.E
Moammar Al Ghaddafi, I am absolutely confident that this problem is solved. As I
read your letter you seem to be of the opinion that the Israeli players are
excluded from the World Chess Championship. I really cannot understand how you
reach such a conclusion, but let me inform you about the reality of the matter.
The Israeli players have either failed to sign the Players Undertaking or signed
with conditions or withdrawn from the Championship after the deadline.
I understand that you have been in contact with the Libyan embassy in Paris and
that they have confirmed that applicants for visa must not have" an Israeli visa
or a trace of passage on Israeli territory". However, this can hardly come as a
surprise to you since it has been the standard procedure not only for Libya, but
also for many other countries in that region. This is exactly the very reason
why the Libyan authorities have decided to issue the visas upon arrival. To
secure a smooth handling of visa and to avoid misunderstandings from Libyan
embassies all over the world, we have agreed to the present procedure.
I am somewhat surprised that you don't see the importance of having the World
Chess Championship in Libya, during the time when the country is opening up to
the international community in a way that has been widely appreciated by many
top leaders of the world. The Libyan Chess Federation is a regular member of
FIDE and the World Championship has the full backing of the Libyan Olympic
Committee. We are confident that everything possible will be done to secure an
excellent Championship fully in line with all FIDE regulations.
Regarding the issue of accompanying persons, coaches, spouses etc I agree that
there is a problem and we have to amend the regulations. Libya however has
fulfilled its obligations according to the present regulations.
When it comes to the announcement of the final list of participants, FIDE is
only following the World Championship regulations and I suggest that you study
the details. After the deadline for the players to sign their Undertaking, there
is a procedure, whereby it takes several weeks to fill the vacancies.
FIDE has already published the final list of the participants as well as the
pairings on its official site.
Sincerely,
Kirsan Ilymzhinov
FIDE President
