FIDE, the International Chess Federation’s decision to approve the participation of a “team of athletes of Russian nationality” in the upcoming 2025 Women’s World Team Championship has led to controversy. It has also sparked a discussion about whether the Russian and Belarusian teams should be allowed in major events.
The controversial decision was taken at the second FIDE Council Meeting of 2025, which took place virtually on July 18 and it was decided to allow a Russian team will compete under the FIDE flag with no display of national symbols.
According to FIDE’s statement, “In line with FIDE’s policy of following IOC guidance and in accordance with practices adopted by several international sports federations — such as World Aquatics, the International Fencing Federation, and the International Gymnastics Federation — the Council approved the participation of a team of athletes of Russian nationality in the 2025 Women’s World Team Championship under the FIDE flag, subject to obtaining a non-objection letter from the IOC.”
“This decision builds upon the precedent set by the January 2025 FIDE resolution, which allowed neutral teams of vulnerable groups (youth and players with disabilities) to participate in team competitions. All such entries are required to compete without national symbols, in full alignment with IOC policy,” the statement read further.
The Women’s World Team Championship is slated for November and set to happen in Linares, Spain.
♟ FIDE Council Meeting held in 🇬🇪 Batumi, Georgia
One of the key highlights of the meeting was the approval of 10 new Grandmasters. Among them is 21-year-old Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan, who becomes the second Kazakhstani woman and the 43rd female player in history to… pic.twitter.com/qp7LhexjtQ
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 21, 2025
The European Chess Union (ECU) has voiced against this decision. ECU has released a statement of Wednesday, putting their firm stand against the “change in policy”.
ECU noted in the statement, “We note that this decision directly contradicts the most recent decisions of the FIDE General Assembly taken in Budapest, where two motions for lifting the sanctions against the Russian Chess Federation were rejected by a vast majority by FIDE member nations.”
The motion to lift restrictions on Russian and Belarusian players was dismissed at the 2024 FIDE General Assembly in Budapest.
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“Additionally, this matter was not originally on the FIDE Council agenda and came to light only after it was mentioned in Russian state media,” added ECU.
“FIDE’s stated policy is to follow IOC guidance and this Council decision aligns only with a policy adopted by a tiny minority of other international sports federations. The ECU maintains its firm position that sanctions against Russian teams’ participation should remain in place until the circumstances that necessitated these measures are fully resolved,” the statement read.
The same FIDE council meeting approved 10 new Grandmasters. Among them was 21-year-old Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan, who became the second Kazakhstani woman and the 43rd female player in history to earn the GM title.
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