New Delhi: Five-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen was fined and disqualified from the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in New York after he refused to comply with FIDE’s dress code.
He turned up wearing jeans and was fined USD 200, which are prohibited under tournament regulations. Chief arbiter Alex Holowczak requested him to change his attire but the defending champions refused it immediately.
He was disqualified from the tournament and was not paired for Round 9 of the Rapid championship. He agreed to follow the dress code from the next day but refused to do it immediately which resulted in his disqualification.
‘Rules have been in place for years and are well-known to all participants’: FIDE
The game’s global governing body FIDE in a statement said that the dress code regulations are drafted by the members of the FIDE Athletes Commission which is composed of professional players and experts and these rules have been in place for years and are well known to all the participants players. The statement further added that the rules are communicated to players ahead of each event and the governing body has also ensured that the players’ accommodation is within short walking distance from the tournament venue.
“Today, Mr. Magnus Carlsen breached the dress code by wearing jeans, which are explicitly prohibited under long-standing regulations for this event. The Chief Arbiter informed Mr. Carlsen of the breach, issued a USD 200 fine, and requested that he change his attire” FIDE said in the statement which was posted on ‘X’.
The statement further said that Magnus Carlsen declined the request to change his attire and he was not paired for round nine and the decision was made impartially and applies equally to all the players.
Meanwhile, Carlsen said that he is tired of FIDE’s dress code policies and he won’t participate in the tournament. He said sorry to his supporters and said that maybe it’s a stupid principle but he doesn’t think it’s any fun.
“I said I don’t want to bother changing now, but I can change until tomorrow, that’s fine. But they didn’t want to compromise. I’ve reached a point where I am pretty upset with FIDE, so I didn’t want to either. Then that’s how it goes” Carlsen told Norwegian broadcasting channel NRK.
Five-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen was fined and disqualified from the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in New York. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
