![Chess masters gathered in Jerusalem for the International Chess Federation [FIDE] championship (photo credit: Courtesy)](https://images.jpost.1eye.us/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/450289 "Chess masters gathered in Jerusalem for the International Chess Federation [FIDE] championship")
Iran notoriously uses this practice across all sporting disciplines, where in tournaments if one of its competitors is set to go up against an Israeli, the Iranian athlete will often feign injury, bow out of the competition or just flat-out refuse to compete.
Within a few documented cases, the most recent being the Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei who claimed he was forced to lose his final two bouts at the 2020 World Judo Championships in Tokyo so as not to face his Israeli counterpart, Sagi Muki, or share the podium with him. Iranian athletes are specifically instructed by government authorities to do so. The Iranian Judo Federation was shortly placed under investigation following Mollaei's claims, where it still remains.According to Chess24, Short reported 12 separate occurrences to the FIDE General Assembly to advocate for Iran's suspension. Instances where Iranian chess players either forfeited matchups against Israeli competitors or withdrew completely from tournaments hosting them. Short has described the Iranian efforts in the past as "absolute in-your-face racism."Short even held a position as the head coach of the Iranian national team from 2006 to 2007, so he knows the program and the tendencies of the Iranian government all too well.“All of this is against FIDE and IOC statutes on non-discrimination. But this is not even discreet, it is absolute in-your-face racism," Short said, according to Chess24. “They have had about 12 incidents in the last year where Iranian players coming up against Israelis were forced to concede matches or withdraw from tournaments.”Short further went on to tell Chess24 that not only is the FIDE watching the Iranian regime, but also the International Olympic Committee (IOC), adding that the regime has side-stepped these issues in the past by claiming they don't advise the players individually."They know this is not just an issue in chess and they are in danger of being kicked out of the IOC. That could have very serious repercussions for the regime," Short concluded to Chess24. “We are ratcheting up the pressure on Iran to comply and if it fails there will be repercussions."So as to hold onto its position within the FIDE and the world rankings of its players, Iran must provide sufficient reasoning to appeal the suspension, and should they not then "they will definitely be suspended," Short said, according to the report.
Iran was already warned last June by the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich that if it kept up its antics that the FIDE would act accordingly, and he has followed up his promise with the most recent letter addressed to Iran's chess program."In recent years, there have been repeated cases where athletes from Iran refused to participate in games with Israeli citizens," Dvorkovich said in a letter addressed to the Iranian Chess Federation. "In some cases comments were even received, that such games were ignored intentionally for political and ideological reasons."
"There had been repeated cases where athletes from Iran refused to participate in games with Israeli citizens," Dvorkovich continued. "It is important for FIDE that everyone abides the Charter, therefore we ask the ICF to confirm 'in writing' its position on the admissibility of the mentioned games (between Iranian and Israeli players)," he wrote.
"Failure to give such confirmation will force FIDE to discuss the compliance of Iran's Chess Federation's values with the principles of FIDE and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," Dvorkovich added.
Radio Farda added that Farhad Nikoukhesal, the chairman of the ICF, claims Iran is "working in compliance with FIDE's rules and adhere to FIDE's statutes." He further claimed that it is the choice of the competitor whether to compete or not, and it is not whatsoever influenced by the government - although there have been numerous documented accusations pointing to the contrary.
Short denied Nikoukhesal's claims, and noted the aforementioned case of the judoka Mollaei, where after making claims of being forced to throwing his final two bouts he sought asylum in Germany and in the future will compete under a foreign flag.
Two of the most successful Iranian chess players, Ghazal Hakimi Fard and Alireza Firouzja, both renounced their Iranian nationality following years of instruction to avoid competition with Israelis - tens of athletes in other sports have followed suit as well as mentioned.""I support the International Chess Association, as well as the Judo Association, and call on all other associations, which currently continue to give support to athletes and associations that boycott Israeli athletes, to take an example from the International Chess Association," President of the Ayelet Federation Arik Kaplan told The Jerusalem Post in a statement. "We must be careful to keep sports free of political issues between countries. I call on Iran, and all sports associations in it (including of course the Chess Association), to change their attitude towards Israeli athletes, to remove politics from sports, thus preventing harm to Iranian and Israeli athletes, and to allow fair and equal competition between athletes from the two countries."