A Tale of Two Cities
Two news stories have exploded this week, highlighting the fluctuating fortunes
of the head of FIDE, the inimitable Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Never a stranger to
controversy (he was one of the last visitors to Saddam Hussein before the war),
the president confirmed this week that FIDE will be hosting the 2004 World
Chess Championships in – Tripoli, the capital of Libya.
Just two days after this story broke, reports came from InterFax, the Russian
news agency, that there have been yet more demonstrations against Ilyumzhinov
in Elista, that capital of Kalmykia. Ilyumzhinov is president of this small
Russian republic, and groups there are increasingly calling for him to resign,
due to allegations of vote-rigging in the recent government elections.
World Championship in Libya
In an interview conducted by Yuri Vasilyev with the premier Russian sports
site, ‘Sport Express’, Ilyumzhinov states that the 17th FIDE World
Championships will be held in Tripoli from 8th May 2004 to 2nd June 2004, in
a knock-out format. Sponsored by the Libyan government, the prize fund is a
healthy $1,508,000, the spoils for the eventual champ being $100,000. The organisation
itself has secured $700,000.
Chess fans have longed for an announcement regarding the championships, but
reaction to this news has been mixed to say the least, due in no small part
to the choice of venue. Libya’s past links to terrorist activities (the
1988 bombing of Pan-Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie being
one) and animosity towards the West made the country a no-go area. Recently
Libya has made efforts to raise its international profile, paying compensation
for the Lockerbie atrocity and opening its borders to international visitors.
Ilyumzhinov is at great pains to point out these changes, citing that Libya
is in the running to host the 2010 football World Cup. But whilst FIFA have
only considered the possibility of staging the World Cup in Libya, FIDE have
already decided. Ilyumzhinov: "The contract has been signed."
The second largest sports organisation in the world beating the first to the
Tripoli touchline obviously gives our illustrious leader satisfaction, but
all is not settled yet. The venue has to be approved at a meeting of the Presidential
Board on 28th-29th February in Kotor, though this appears to be a formality.
The fact remains however, that Israeli nationals are not allowed to travel
to Libya, which has obvious ramifications for the participants, some of whom
will not be permitted to play.
Kalmykian and FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Ilyumzhinov protests at the perceived “unfairness” of the situation.
"The problem of visas for Israeli nationals is not only to be found in
Libya. Even in the more ‘progressive’ countries of the Arab world,
such as the United Arab Emirates, Israeli citizens cannot travel. It is a question
of Israel’s relations with the whole Arab world." The FIDE president
will not be stopped in his tracks. "I will endeavour to persuade Gaddafi
to make an exception for Israeli players. If the plan succeeds, it will be
a fantastic breakthrough. If not, then [the proposal] is to split the championship
into two groups. One group will play in Tripoli, the other in Malta (it is
a half-hour flight from Tripoli)."
The contentious issue of the Prague Agreement is raised in the interview.
After the cancellation of the Ponomariov-Kasparov match up last year, the reunification
seemed once more to be in disarray. Also – the status of Vishy Anand
in all of this is touched upon. The world’s number three seems to many
to have been forgotten in the chaos, and Vasilyev jokes about this in the interview
by nicknaming Anand “refusenik”. Ilyumzhinov brushes aside the
question of Anand, merely reiterating that the plans were put in motion and
all agreed upon last year. The President is adamant that the plan is still
viable and is timetabling spring 2005 for a match between the FIDE Champion
and Garry Kasparov. Plus, he believes that the next World Championship will
be held in Vietnam.
Further Protests in Kalmykia
From this triumphant tone, the song starts to sound a little flat in the next
story. There were reports in December about small protests against Ilyumzhinov
in Elista, the Kalmyk capital. The demonstrators believe that the results in
the governmental election were artificially inflated in favour of the ruling
power in the region, and hold Ilyumzhinov responsible.
On February 24th, further protests were made, with those taking part holding
up slogans declaring "Kirsan is Kalmykia’s trouble, Russia’s
disgrace”, and chanting “Ilyumzhinov must go”. More protests
are planned, but government officials were quick to brush the actions as those
of an isolated group of troublemakers. Either way, it is clear that Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov will continue to make international headlines in 2004.
Joanne Pittaway
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