The International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced on Monday it was imposing a six-month competition ban on Russian chess grandmaster Sergey Karjakin for his public support of the invasion of Ukraine.
The organization said Karjakin, 32, had been found guilty of violating the FIDE Code of Ethics, which states that disciplinary action will be carried out in instances that cast the federation in an "unjustifiable unfavorable light and in this way damage its reputation."
“The statements by Sergey Karjakin on the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine has led to a considerable number of reactions on social media and elsewhere, to a large extent negative towards the opinions expressed by Sergey Karjakin,” FIDE said.
It was determined that Karjakin's online statements posed a threat to the reputation of chess, himself and the FIDE, the federation said. Karjakin will be permitted to appeal the organization's decision.
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Karjakin issued an opinion on social media to Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing his support for the attack and spreading the baseless claim that Kyiv was pushing a genocidal Nazi regime.
