TWIC is 30. First issue 17th September 1994.
FIDE Presidential Elections 2010 (Karpov Legal Threat)
Karpov team strike back with threat of legal action
Mark Crowther - Saturday 3rd July 2010
The Russian Chess Federation nomination has been at the centre of the fight between Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Anatoly Karpov for the Presidency of FIDE. The Karpov team has made requests to see the documentation that Ilyumzhinov has submitted for his and his teams candidacy. They back this up with threats of legal action.
If anyone wonders why I kept banging on about the Russian Chess Federation and the importance of being nominated by "his" Federation then the actions of the Karpov team has removed this doubt.
One candidate was always going to be without the nomination of the Russian Chess Federation. Now Karpov is going to war. He questions the impartiality of the FIDE Secretariat and the FIDE website, particularly in publishing the tickets with comments. Also there is one glaring difference between Karpov's submitted documents on his own site and that published by the FIDE website. Karpov names the Russian Chess Federation as nominating him.
This opens up all sorts of legal scenarios. Firstly the actual documentation surrounding the Russian nomination will have to be looked at. With competing versions signed by Arkady Dvorkovich and the outgoing Alexander Bakh. Dvorkovich confirmed to FIDE that his version was the correct one to FIDE once he had ousted his opponents. This may be enough in law for the FIDE Secretariat, it may not be enough in law in Russia where it may have to be challenged, and there may be a third point of view in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne where this dispute may inevitably end.
Karpov also questions the validity of some of the other nominations and many of the statements on the "One World, One Vision" website of Ilyumzhinov.
One thing that has become clear in the campaign so far is that this is not a battle for the faint-hearted. It is a proper political battle, candidates are using the weaponry of propaganda, deal making and now inevitably the law. Campomanes and his successor Ilyumzhinov were both very fond of the motto of FIDE "Gens Una Sumus" (We are all one family) which was a code word for lets play nice and favoured the inertia of supporting the ruling "regime". All very well when you're winning election after election but those on the other side feel completely excluded from this so called family.
Karpov's strategy looks both necessary and a bit high risk. I doubt he could get Ilyumzhinov excluded from the elections if he totally won in his objections, wouldn't rule it out, but highly doubt it, but the question is also how does his campaign stand if his objections are rejected?
It is interesting that Karpov feels he can turn the apparent total victory of Ilyumzhinov's supporter Dvorkovich (and I think by now by extension fairly obviously the Russian Government) against him in the election. Dvorkovich has clearly made, from his own point of view, some really drastically bad errors, it will be interesting to see if his paperwork is in order.
Karpov's ticket as published on his website: http://www.karpov2010.org/karpov2010-ticket/
FIDE's version: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4613-announcement-on-the-forthcoming-fide-elections.html
The open letter on Karpov's website including legal documents: http://www.karpov2010.org/2010/07/karpov2010-demands-ilyumzhinov-tickets-documents/
Karpov2010 Demands Ilyumzhinov Ticket’s Documents
Jul 03, 2010
After the Karpov2010 team submitted all nominating documents to the FIDE Secretariat, we requested to see all of the documents of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s ticket. Making all of these documents on both sides public is one way to mitigate the obvious conflict of interest created when Kirsan’s team is in charge of examining and approving these important papers. Additionally, there are multiple irregularities and falsities in the statements published on Ilyumzhinov’s campaign site that needed to be addressed.
Mr. Conn’s simple request was refused and the irregularities and false statements remain, so the next step was taken – drafting a formal request with the international law firm White & Case, which is representing the Karpov2010 campaign. After investigating the available evidence, their attorneys point out many discrepancies and contradictory positions, as well as illustrating the conflict of interest and resulting abuse of FIDE powers already present in the campaign. It was submitted to FIDE on July 2 and receipt in several offices has been confirmed. The White & Case letter, with appendices, can be downloaded here.
Legal action is a step we will take with regret, but we have no choice if Ilyumzhinov and his campaign continue to publish misleading statements and if his administration continues to abuse the power of the incumbency to delegitimize the election process. FIDE has rules and Ilyumzhinov is not above them. They must provide evidence of the legitimacy of their candidacy, and this legitimacy cannot be bestowed by the candidates themselves.
Below find:
- July 2 letter from White & Case to FIDE Executive Director David Jarrett – [link]
- June 30 open letter from Anatoly Karpov correcting false statements by FIDE and the Ilyumzhinov campaign regarding the Russian nomination. – [link]
- June 29 email from Richard Conn Jr. to David Jarrett requesting copies of the Ilyumzhinov ticket’s documents. – [link]
- Complete copies of the Karpov2010 ticket’s nominating documents, as submitted to FIDE. – [link]
Disputes will almost certainly have to go the the Court for Arbitration in Sport
FIDE Handbook: http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=51&view=article
Chapter 14 - Final Settlement of Disputes at the Court of Arbitration for Sport
14.1.
Nothwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in this Statute, FIDE hereby subscribes to the final settlement of any dispute directly or indirectly related to chess in its whole or partial practice, be it commercial or relating to the practice and development of chess or a dispute following a decision by FIDE, to be sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne without recourse to any other court or tribunal, as earlier subscribed to by FIDE on 11 October 1995.
14.2.
For all practical purposes, the practise of the game of chess in all its ramifications is fully recognised as sport by the International Olympic Committee at the IOC session in Seoul, Korea in June 1999 and therefore any form of practice of the game of chess and any decision thereon by FIDE or any form of activity relating thereto either directly or indirectly falls within the definition of sport.
14.3.
The settlement of all disputes under Article 14.1 above shall be applicable to acts performed by :
1. FIDE as an Organisation
2. FIDE Office bearers
3. Member Federations, their clubs and individual players
4. Sponsors
5. Any person or body with whom FIDE has entered into any form of contractual arrangement either directly or indirectly related to Chess
14.4.
The Decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport shall be final and binding on the parties.
