Friday 23 October 2015

The anti-corruption broom begins to sweep through FIDE

Former World Champion Garry Kasparov and Former FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong, have been hit with a two year ban from activities related to chess administration, over their conduct in last years FIDE election. The ban was handed down by the FIDE Ethics Commission, who had found them guilty of breaches of the FIDE Code of Ethics a few weeks earlier. The case concerned a contract between Kasparov and Leong which in part listed a set of payments in return for Leong securing votes for Kasparov in the 2014 FIDE elections.
Opinion on this verdict is of course divided, mirroring last years election. Comments on chess.com have not been flattering to FIDE (which is to be expected). On the other hand a few people have defended the decision, arguing the evidence is pretty straight forward.
Of course this could be the start of a wider investigation of alleged corruption around FIDE. With FIFA in the spotlight it may be the case that FIDE wants to get its own house in order before external investigators start sniffing around.
Or it may not.

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