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Open Letter on Drugs Testing
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Open Letter to FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Intial letter published at: http://www.gmsquare.com. Any GM, IM, chess journalist and author is welcome to join the letter - it is not limited to GMs only. If you wish to add your name to the letter you should E-Mail Alexander Baburin at: ababurin@iol.ie Dear Mr President, We, international chess players, including participants in the forthcoming Olympiad in Bled, are deeply concerned about the FIDE position regarding Drug Testing. We understand that players participating in the Bled Chess Olympiad will be requested to sign a contract, which will imply a potential fine of up to no less than $100,000, should one test positive, even for a first offence! The list of banned substances is very long and most teams do not have a medical expert travelling with them. Thus, a player may be forced to sign a complicated contract, without proper understanding of it and so assent to a potentially ruinous fine. We also note that according to the regulations "Participants (subject to drug testing) means any competitor, trainer, official, medical or para-medical personnel working with or treating competitors ...". This appears to suggest that arbiters, team captains and many of those at the FIDE Congress itself are subject to the same noxious regulations, under which somebody could in theory be fined up to $100,000 for the (perfectly legal) offence of drinking too much coffee, tea and Coca Cola! These regulations were presumably drawn up to be applied to athletes who can make tens of thousands of dollars by winning a single race. In contrast, the majority of players at the Chess Olympiad are not paid at all and may even have to pay their own way. Even top chess professionals will receive a fee of only a small fraction of the $100,000, mentioned in Chapter II of the FIDE drugs code, as a potential maximum fine. We understand that FIDE is making great efforts to get into the Olympic Games, but note recent IOC statements, that these are to be slimmed down with some events axed rather than new ones accepted. Presumably this means that acceptance is currently very unlikely? We understand that as a result of FIDE's affiliation to the IOC, it is obliged to implement a drug code: even though in the case of chess there has never been proof of any substance improving performance. However, the code, which FIDE has introduced, is based on an IOC document of 1999, while there have been further developments with the IOC endorsing testing by WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency). WADA is in the process of introducing its own draft standard anti-doping document which is to be ratified early next year. There are enormous differences between the FIDE document and the new WADA draft, which sets out a gradated response to testing positive – in the WADA document the maximum penalty for a first offence would be six months suspension – no fines are mentioned anywhere. While we are of course condemn drug-taking in any sport, we note that from past experience there are bound to be competitors who make mistakes. And under the present regulations they could in theory be subjected to almost limitless penalties. Indeed, we note that as a result of worries over these regulations, a number of prominent chess players have even decided not to compete in Bled. We therefore urge you, Mr President, to suspend drug testing until FIDE has signed up to the new WADA document. At the very least, we request you to undertake that in the interim in the unfortunate event of a positive test, these potentially ruinous fines will not be levied. And to submit for the approval of the FIDE General Assembly in Bled a new document consonant with the more reasonable WADA draft code. We also hope that in the future FIDE will undertake more consultation on this and other important matters with professional chess players, for the benefit of chess in general. GM Alexander Baburin (Ireland) Additional signatures: GM Harry Schüssler (Sweden) |