Former Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov elected FIDE Vice President

Former Russian Minister of Sports Pavel Kolobkov was elected vice-president of FIDE.

Pavel Kolobkov received 78 votes and became one of four FIDE Vice-Presidents elected by the General Assembly, along with representatives of China, the USA and Djibouti.

American grandmaster Lev Alburt considers Kolobkov's election to be evidence that the majority of national federations do not support the isolation of Russian chess players.

WASHINGTON, October 1 - RIA Novosti. The election of former Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov as FIDE vice-president indicates that the majority of national federations within the organization do not support the isolation of Russian chess players, says American grandmaster Lev Alburt.

“The majority of federations are against boycotts of Russian chess players and athletes,” Alburt told RIA Novosti, commenting on the results of the FIDE leadership elections.

Kolobkov received 78 votes and became one of four FIDE Vice-Presidents elected by the General Assembly. In addition to him, the leadership of the organization, based on the voting results, included representatives of China, the USA and Djibouti. A total of 15 candidates applied for four positions.

Alburt considers Kolobkov’s election indicative from the point of view of the attitude of national federations towards Russia.

“The election of Kolobkov... speaks about the attitude of the majority of federations towards Russia,” the grandmaster noted.

Earlier, the FIDE General Assembly upheld the suspension of the Russian Chess Federation (RFC). Representative of Kazakhstan Timur Turlov was elected to the post of president of the organization on September 26