Anatoly Karpov commented on the suspension of Russian national teams from team competitions

The 12th world chess champion considers such a decision a manifestation of FIDE’s weakness.

I perceive the whole situation as a weakness of FIDE. They had no grounds other than a soft recommendation from the IOC. I am sure that Arkady Dvorkovich should have solved this issue right at the election congress, after the elections, where he received tremendous support, – Karpov said.

Recall, that in March 2022, the International Chess Federation banned Russia and Belarus from competing in team competitions, but allowed athletes from these countries to participate in individual tournaments.

Karpov also spoke about the disqualification of grandmaster Sergey Karjakin.

We need to return all the national teams. And solve all the issues, starting with Karjakin, who was thrown out for his political position. If Karjakin had been in the USA, he would have sued and ruined FIDE,”- he added.

At the end of September, Sergey Karjakin’s six-month disqualification ended and he was allowed to participate in competitions under the auspices of FIDE. The reason for the grandmaster’s suspension was his political statements.