FIDE has noticed several coordinated and politically motivated articles on certain websites, spreading false rumours and devaluating FIDE’s efforts in securing funds for the World Championship Cycle.
FIDE would like to remind to certain “chess journalists” who create false impressions that, only in the last 4 years, FIDE has secured and delivered more than 10 million USD in prize funds for its world championship cycles, in addition to all organising costs. Obviously the sponsors of these events had access to Google and still they were able to provide such funds to FIDE under the presidency of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Today’s critics of FIDE fail to mention that no other President, fund raiser or chess association has ever brought similar amounts of combined sponsorship to professional chess. We assure them that, despite their negative campaign undermining FIDE’s negotation position, FIDE will deliver again as it has done, over and over again, in the last 20 years.
It is a sad coincidence that the bidding procedure and preparations for the next World Championship Match have fallen in the same time with the negative campaign of chess politicians in certain countries. FIDE continues to work for the sake of world chess and not for the short-term political agenda of those opposing Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in the upcoming FIDE elections.
Kasparov has plenty of financial backers. He can offer $6 mil for the world championship to be held in his NY penthouse.