Andrey Filatov: We oppose discrimination against players

CFR President's statement on the situation around Vladimir Kramnik

The CFR President Andrey Filatov delivered an address on blocking Vladimir Kramnik's account on Chess.com (the website is blocked in Russia). 

"The Chess Federation of Russia is known for its full support of online competitions. During the pandemic we won the FIDE Online Olympiad twice, and on the initiative of the 14th World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, we held an online tournament "National Team's Contribution to Russia" in support of doctors.
 
Recently, our outstanding chess player Vladimir Kramnik has initiated a serious investigation into the problem of cheating in online tournaments on one of the most popular chess platforms. He called for a broad discussion of the problem. However, the website management first limited itself to a purely formal response, and then went on to block his account.
 
We express our concern about this situation and oppose discrimination against players because of their beliefs and statements. Cheating is a serious problem that threatens the future of chess, and online chess in particular. We support Vladimir Kramnik and call on chess experts to conduct a serious investigation".