Canadians are reacting to a visa appeal to the Canadian government issued from the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
The world’s most prestigious chess championship is set to take place in exactly one month in Toronto. However, the government has not issued visas to 40 individuals participating in the tournament, which include international players, family members, and coaches.
In a press appeal posted on X on Mar. 1, FIDE urged the Canadian government to fast track visa applications for players who haven’t received any updates on their status.
In less than 24 hours, Grand Master Maria Emelianova received an update on her visa on Saturday.
“I just got mine approved this morning so there’s HOPE,” she posted on X.
FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky has been posting on X to continue pushing the Canadian government for action.
“FIDE won’t replace players for visa issues or postpone the event. We have a strong team and enough resources to ensure staging it elsewhere at the same dates. But we really focus on Canada now. A lot of effort was put into making Toronto an exceptional event.”
Over the weekend, FIDE held the Drawing of Lots to pair the FIDE Candidates and the FIDE Women’s Candidates at Madison Avenue chess pub in Toronto.
Some Canadians are concerned the delay in visa approvals is because six of the participating Grand Masters are from India and three are from Russia.
“Relations between India and Canada deteriorated after the June killing of a Canadian Sikh activist on Canadian soil.
Last September, Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were involved in killing a Canadian sikh activist in Surrey, B.C. India strongly denied these claims, weakening the relationship between the two countries, according to NPR.
READ MORE: India suspends visas for Canadians until further notice
“Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has also caused its athletes to face sanctions, restricting their participation at international events,” a reddit user wrote.
“Hosting a chess tournament of this magnitude in a western country in the current geopolitical landscape is kind of a bad decision to begin with,” another user wrote.
Chess fans outside of the city are worried if the tournament will be cancelled altogether.
“What happens for those of us who bought tickets and flights to Toronto already? FIDE widely advertised ‘early bird’ pricing,” an X user posted.
President of the Chess Federation of Canada Vladimir Drkulec has been responding to comments on X.
“If we cannot resolve the Canadian visa issues or at least give FIDE the confidence that they will be solved in a timely manner, the Candidates tournaments will be moved. This will be disappointing to Canadian chess fans and will impact our ability to host chess events,” he posted.
The championship is scheduled to take place at The Great Hall from April 3-22.
