New Delhi: The International Chess Federation (FIDE) on Saturday appealed to the Canadian government to process the visa issuance applications to players competing in the event at the earliest, saying there are "grave concerns" over the timely arrival of contenders.
Five Indians GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Dommaraju Gukesh, GM Vaishali Rameshbabu and GM Koneru Humpy have already been qualified for the men’s and women’s category of prestigious Candidates Tournament, commencing from April 3 in the capital city Toronto.
The Candidates Tournament serves as the final tournament to find out the challengers for the world champions. The winner of the elite tournament earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent world champion. Chinese Ding Liren (Men’s) and Ju Wenjun (Women’s) are the current reigning world champions.
Drawing the attention of the Canadian government on the issue, FIDE wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Regrettably, players from various countries worldwide, who submitted their visa applications a few months ago, have not yet received any updates on their status. With only a month remaining till the FIDE Candidates Tournament, there are grave concerns about the timely arrival of the players to Toronto.”
India's GM and FIDE deputy president Viswanathan Anand re-tweeted the FIDE letter, tagging Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
An All India Chess Federation (AICF) official confirmed to PTI that none of the Indians has received a visa. "No, they have not got their visas yet. They had applied well in time and hopefully it should be done. It is not such a big issue," said the official.
FIDE requested the Canadian government to look into the matter urgently to avoid inconvenience to its players. "Recognizing the popularity of the game in the country, and its growing role in the chess world, we kindly ask the Canadian Government for support in urgently addressing this matter.”
"Ensuring the safe and timely arrival of players is crucial for the success and integrity of the FIDE Candidates Tournament and for promoting Canada as a host of the most important chess tournament of the year, which will be followed by millions of spectators worldwide."
This is the first instance where three male Indian GMs are going to compete in the marquee event. Interestingly, when Paragganandhaa and Vaishali start their respective campaigns, they'll become the first-ever brother-sister pair to compete in the same year's Candidates Tournament.
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