(PC: Lennart Ootes via Grand Chess Tour)
Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City
D Gukesh already had some support in Singapore from the Indian population residing in this country. In addition, about 40 members of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) have arrived here to be by at his side for the World Chess Championship duel against Ding Liren of China. With two rounds to go, the match is tied 6-6.
It’s not new to see Indian sports federation officials travel to international competitions. At the Olympics and Asian Games, they are seen in large numbers. If media reports of the olden days are to go by, on occasions, these officials outnumbered the athletes. And everything happened at the cost of the respective national federations. Those were free trips and paid holidays.
The difference the AICF made here is crucial. All the officials are travelling at their own cost. Not a rupee has been spent by the AICF on their travel, lodging and other expenses. Around 40 members of a federation doing this is unheard of in the history of Indian sports. These trips were seen as paid junkets. By bearing their own cost, the chess federation members have set a precedent.
“We have made it very clear that the federation will not bear any cost for such trips,” AICF president Nitin Narang told RevSportz. “It’s not about what happened in the past. After I took charge as president, all of us decided unanimously that the money the AICF spends will be for the game and the players. Not a penny from the AICF funds will be touched for trips like this.”
The AICF has 32 affiliated units. Each one of them sends two representatives. That makes it 64 members in total. Out of them, around 40 are in Singapore to support Gukesh. They are not here for the entire duration of the match which started on November 25. Most of them have come for the last four or two rounds. The cost per person including travel and stay is roughly Rs 1 lakh. This varies according to the number of days they spend here.
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“I was in Singapore for the opening ceremony on November 23 on invitation from the international chess federation (FIDE), for being the president of the AICF,” said Narang. “Even then, I went there at my own cost. It’s not for me to comment on what used to be the practice. What we are doing now is something that we want follow as a matter of principle. These things will not happen at official cost.”
On match days, some of these AICF members are seen at the fan zone. A few of them play on the boards provided by organisers for the fans. “One of our vice-presidents, Anil Kumar Raizada, could have had access to the VIP enclosure,” said Ankit Dalal, the joint-secretary of Gujarat Chess Association. “But he didn’t go there. It was only after we told FIDE officials that he is our vice-president that they made arrangements for him.
“It was a spontaneous decision. We thought that since our player is playing in such a huge match, we must go there and support him. It was also decided that we must not burden the federation. Even the AICF CEO — Ajit Kumar Verma — is travelling at his own cost,” added Dalal, who played a leading role in organising this trip for the AICF members in terms of looking after logistics.
Gukesh may or may not win this battle against Ding, the defending champion from China. The AICF members, however, have set an example. Indian sports officials have always been criticised for taking undue advantage of their positions. They treated such trips as natural perks of the posts they held. By spending from their own pockets, the chess people have set a rare precedent.
Also Read: Setback for Gukesh in Round 12 of World Chess Championship