No action against chess player Humpy before September
Amit Karmarkar,TNN | Jul 15, 2015, 12.50 PM IST
PUNE: Koneru Humpy – India’s top chess player among women – could have raised the question on competence of Indian organisers at a wrong time. However, she is unlikely to face any immediate punishment for the same.
Organisers have taken a drastic step of complaining about Humpy’s behaviour during the recent Commonwealth meet in New Delhi to FIDE’s ethics commission. She had questioned the competence of chief arbiter of the tournament after losing the fourth round game against Himanshu Sharma on time despite being in a winning position.
Humpy, 28, was unaware of the time control (one and a half hours per player plus increment from the first move) despite it being her responsibility; and reportedly didn’t own up for the same. She not only blamed the arbiter for miscommunication but also withdrew from the tournament. Her subsequent interview to a website, in which she had criticised Indian organisers and raised some valid points, had irked powers that be.
Nigel Freeman, FIDE’s Executive Director, told TOI via email: “The matter has been referred to the FIDE Ethics Commission which will conduct its own investigation and will contact both the complainant and the respondent in due course.
“This investigation will take place in accordance with the Ethics Commission’s Procedural Rules which can be found on the FIDE website under the Handbook/ FIDE Code of Ethics/ Procedural Rules.
“These procedures involve firstly a consideration of the admissibility of the complaint and thereafter, if held admissible, a consideration of the merits of the complaint.
“By its nature, and respecting the procedural rights of both complainant and respondent, the investigation cannot be concluded overnight and the Ethics Commission hopes to finalise the matter at its next meeting during the FIDE Congress in Abu Dhabi in the first week of September this year.
“In the meantime there are no restrictions against GM Humpy’s participation in any tournament as the process must take its course whilst a presumption of innocence applies.”
It means the complaint against world No. 3 Humpy has been received, but not yet admitted. Whenever and if she is called upon to present her position, she will be allowed to involve a person of her choice (could be a lawyer) during the hearing. The FIDE will take a decision only after hearing out both parties. And it would be illegal and immoral to stop Humpy from playing in any tournament in the meantime.
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