One of the key commissions in FIDE’s structure is the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary commission. The elections for Chairman of the commission are tomorrow morning. Four candidates applied for the position – Johan Sigeman, Babur Tolbaev, Daniel Florea, and Yolander Persaud.
The top contender for the FIDE Ethics Commission Chairman position was Johan Sigeman. He is a respected lawyer and organizer of the world’s renowned chess event Sigeman & Co. In the past months, Johan Sigeman became known for suspending the Russian and Belarusian Chess Federations as head of the First Instance Chamber. However, after the outrageous decision of the Second Instance Chamber to reverse the suspending of Russia and Belarus, Johan Sigeman withdrew from his further candidacy and involvement with the Ethics Commission.
Due to the noise regarding the reinstating the Russian Chess Federation, that was even commented by Magnus Carlsen in the FIDE 100 gala, all the spotlight in this election fell on another candidate – the Kyrgyzstan Chess Federation President Babur Tolbaev. He is the one who made the actual Kyrgyz/Russian proposal and just a few days later he appeared on the list of candidates for FIDE Ethics Commission chairman.
However, Chessdom sources from Budapest report that the Babur Tolbaev candidacy is most
probably just a bluff from the pro-Kremlin wing of FIDE. The actual dark horse in the race is Daniel Florea. In his home country he was an active member 2022-2024 of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), a right-wing, anti-immigration, anti-LGBT, populist and nationalist political party currently active in Romania and Moldova. He is also currently a parliament member of Romania, elected with the same party (AUR). Many statements and positions of AUR are actually identical to those of the Kremlin, especially regarding Putin’s war against Ukraine. From time to time they also post some supposedly “anti-Russian” statements just to cover up and pretend to be “neutral” when actually the AUR leader had been banned from entering Ukraine.
Daniel Florea does not seem to have provided to the FIDE delegates full disclosure on his AUR affiliation. Chessdom’s sources say, “The documents sent as Florea’s CVs to FIDE delegates up to now (in English language) very conveniently omit any reference to AUR.” Questions arise:
- Has Daniel Florea provided to the FIDE delegates full disclosure that AUR is the political party
with which he has been elected as a parliament member? - Does FIDE believe that it is good for its image, especially towards the IOC and the CAS,
to have as chief of its, theoretically independent, Ethics Commission someone who has been
elected with such an extremist political party? How will this be viewed when, inevitably, many decisions of FIDE head for resolution to both the Ethics Commission and the CAS? - If elected, will Daniel Florea excuse himself from any case involving Ukraine and its allies? How about chairing cases involving the violations of Ukrainian rights by the Russian-controlled leadership of FIDE. By being elected with such an anti-Ukrainian party such as AUR, does he really believe any judgement he will bring will ever be trusted as “objective”?
Given all of the above, if FIDE wishes to remain a respected organization in the eyes of the IOC, Mrs Yolander Persaud seems to be the only remaining independent choice to be elected as Chairman of the Ethics Commission. Yolander Persaud is the current EDC Deputy Chairperson and has been an elected member on the Commission since 2018. Yolander is a practing lawyer for 10 years, admitted to the Bar in Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. She specialized in Oil and Gas Law, upon attaining her LLM from the University of Aberdeen, holds a LEC from the Hugh Wooding Law School and a LLB from the University of Guyana. Yolander also serves as a Director of the Guyana Chess Federation, since 2017. She is also a Licensed Natonal Arbiter.
The FIDE Ethics Commission elections are tomorrow and Chessdom will have updates on the developing story for this key commission in FIDE’s structure.
