Ilyumzhinov for President – of FIFA?

The RCF President Andrey Filatov proposed to the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to run for FIFA President

During the FIDE Presidential Board in Abu Dhabi, UAE, the President of the Russian Chess Federation, the FIDE Vice President Andrey Filatov (photo above) proposed to the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (below) to run for FIFA President.

Andrey Filatov: “Promotion and mainstreaming of the chess movement today requires a more proactive approach of national chess federations. We must act, reach out to communities far beyond chess clubs and become more open to the broadest cooperation with mass media, in order to promote our agenda. We must participate in socially significant projects and, considering recent international developments, we must elaborate programs beneficial to societies and cooperate with mass media to promote them.

Amid the grave events in Donetsk last year, the Russian Chess Federation actively engaged with Ukrainian refugees, bringing in coaches and teachers, and organizing junior competitions. Named Chess for the Good, the project received press coverage and undoubtedly helped to promote chess. The experience was extremely useful. I am convinced that the FIDE members should actively engage with international social and humanitarian organizations, such as The International Red Cross, to gather support for chess and promote it further.

And one more point. It is no secret that international sports in general are currently in a difficult situation. The highly publicized recent FIFA scandal triggered a global public outcry, and the upcoming FIFA presidential election will be undoubtedly held under massive public scrutiny.

Andrei Filatov proposes Ilyumzhinov run for FIFA President ...

... at the FIDE Presidential Board meeting in Abu Dhabi

I suggest we consider and discuss our support for a specific candidate or, perhaps, nominate our own. Personally, I suggest nominating Mr. Ilyumzhinov, an experienced sports manager with, among others, expertise in football, even though such nomination may surprise him. This would not guarantee victory but, according to the Olympic motto, the most important thing is to take part. This would certainly allow us to increase media exposure.

I repeat, we must jointly adopt a more proactive approach, develop chess programs, engage in socially significant projects, work towards the inclusion of chess in the list of Olympic disciplines, make sure chess becomes part of the Paralympic movement, and strengthen the reputation and authority of the FIDE in international sports.

You have witnessed success and efficiency of our projects Chess in Museums and Chess in Schools. Experience of the FIDE truly deserves mainstreaming and we must also promote the FIDE itself as an organization that unites 186 nations. Especially considering that FIDE is not a political organization and is focused on fostering peace and cooperation”.

The following day, FIDE issued its own press release:

A proposal to the FIDE President

At the meeting of the FIDE Executive Board in Abu Dhabi, September 7th 2015, the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov received a proposal to run for the FIFA Presidency. The proposal was made by the Russian Chess Federation President and FIDE Vice President Andrei Filatov. He said that it is no secret that international sports in general are currently in a difficult situation. The highly publicized recent FIFA scandal triggered a global public outcry and the upcoming FIFA Presidential Election will undoubtedly be held under massive public scrutiny. He believed that we consider our support for a specific candidate or perhaps, nominate our own and he suggested nominating Mr. Ilyumzhinov, an experienced sports manager, with expertise in football amongst other sports. This would certainly allow chess to increase its media exposure. The proposal of Mr. Filatov was met with applause from the audience of the Executive Board.

President Ilyumzhinov responded that he would think about this and noted that he came into FIDE as relatively unknown in the chess world. Since he had become President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation has become united, is now financially sound and runs smoothly.

FIDE is now one of the largest international sports federations which unites 186 countries.

FIDE takes seriously ethical matters as can be seen by the findings and the guilty verdict of the FIDE Ethics Commission during its meeting in Abu Dhabi, on the case concerning Messrs. G. Kasparov and I. Leong, amongst others.

• Official web site of the Russian Chess Federation – English version
• Official report on the 86th FIDE Congress
• FIFA candidacy news

The Russian Chess Federation (RCF) is a public non-profit organization that brings together individuals and chess federations of republics, regions, federal cities, autonomous regions and districts of the Russian Federation. The mission of the Russian Chess Federation is to promote and popularize chess in the Russian Federation. The RCF was founded on February 15, 1992. It organizes the annual Russian Children's Championship, the White Rook tournament among educational institutions, the Russian championship and other chess competitions. In 2012, the Chess in Museums program was launched in Russia at the initiative of the RCF.