Arkady Dvorkovich has suspended his powers at the chess body, pledging to challenge his “unlawful and unfair” blacklisting
Arkady Dvorkovich, the Russian president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), has announced that he is suspending his powers as head of the organization after being placed on the EU’s latest sanctions list.
The sanctions package – the bloc’s 21st since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, and one Brussels struggled for weeks to finalize amid internal divisions over its potential fallout – was published on Thursday.
It targets Russia’s energy, financial, crypto, trade, fisheries, and LNG transport sectors while imposing restrictions on 170 entities and 48 individuals over alleged “public support” for Russia’s military operation. Dvorkovich, a Russian economist and former deputy prime minister who has led FIDE since 2018, was among those blacklisted.
In a statement published on the FIDE website on Friday, Dvorkovich called the decision “unlawful and unfair” and pledged to challenge it “by all possible means.”
Statement by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich
Today, the EU decision to include my name in the 21st sanctions list was published. I want to state unequivocally that I consider this decision unlawful and unfair, and this decision will be immediately challenged by all possible… pic.twitter.com/SmiinxF71u
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 23, 2026
“I am confident that justice will prevail,” he wrote, adding that, to avoid disrupting FIDE’s operations, he decided to voluntarily suspend his powers as president until the sanctions are lifted or overturned in court.
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