Iran drops out of youth chess tournament for fear of being banned for refusing to compete with Israelis

Earlier this month, an Iranian youth chess champion refused to play with his Israeli counterpart.

For once, the FIDE chess federation made its displeasure public in this tweet from its vice president Nigel David Short:

Iran seems to be spooked.

From Radio Farda:

A series of "considerations" and "financial complications" has forced the Islamic Republic's Chess Federation not to dispatch Iran's team to the World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad in Turkey, says the federation president.

Without further elaboration, Mehrdad Pahlavanzadeh insisted on Sunday, October 26, that the international chess federation (FIDE) has not eliminated Iran from the list of competing countries, and Tehran has voluntarily decided to stay out of the championship.

Based on an "unwritten law," Iranian athletes are banned from competing with their Israeli counterparts or attending medal ceremonies alongside them.

Iranian athletes' refusal to compete with Israelis has triggered a series of disputes between Tehran and international sports federations.

Reacting to Iran's refusal to participate in the World Championship in Turkey, FIDE said in a statement last week that it would punish the Islamic Republic's Chess Federation in a way that would detrimental for the Iranian chess players.

Earlier this month the International Judo Federation (IJF) enacted a provisional ban on Iran over its refusal to allow its judokas to face Israelis.

Sports federations are finally starting to show some backbone.

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