The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has reopened the bid for the 2022 Chess Olympiad, chess com reports.
The 2022 Olympiad was scheduled to be held in Minsk after the Belarus organisers won the bid, which was approved by the General Assembly in October, 2018.
However, according to FIDE, the Belarus side failed to perform their duties. The reason given by FIDE is a financial issue: the Belarusian Ministry of Sports could not guarantee advanced payments and insurance. The talks between FIDE and the Belarusian organisers were ongoing for months to no avail, legal advisor Aleksandr Martynov said.
Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, the current political crisis makes it hard to organise large international sports events in Belarus, chess.com author Peter Doggers stressed.
Earlier, the 2020 Moscow Olympiad was moved to the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The next Olympiad is planned for 2022, but it’s now unclear where it will took place.
Belsat.eu, following chess.com
