FIDE to receive 10-12 million Euros for the coming cycles
PanARMENIAN.Net – In an interview with Sport Express, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov spoke about plans for a new Men’s Grand Prix and the sale of the rights to the World Championship and other major events.
FIDE is granting the company Agon the rights to hold the World Championship matches, Candidates Tournaments and World Cups for the next few years, chessintranslation.com reports.
They will also be responsible for the Men’s Grand Prix, which Ilyumzhinov claims is about to make a comeback.
Agon is run by Andrew Paulson, an American businessman who has worked in Russia since 1993. Ilyumzhinov said that Paulson first wrote to FIDE eight months ago offering to invest millions of dollars in chess. After long negotiations a contract was finally approved by FIDE at the recent Presidential Council in the United Arab Emirates.
“For the running of the coming cycles FIDE should receive around 10-12 million euro. As well as that, FIDE will, as before, get the 20% cut of the prize fund and a percentage of the profits that the head of Agon is counting on making in the next four years,” he said.
“In the next one or two weeks chess fans and professionals will get a clear schedule for the major events – with a list of the cities, dates and size of the prize fund. By the way, the prize fund will be increased, the tournaments will become more appealing and we hope that all the best players will take part. This year we’ll start with Chelyabinsk and Tashkent, and next year Agon is planning to hold these prestigious events in major world capitals: Paris, Madrid, Vienna and Lisbon,” FIDE President stated.
Source: http://www.panarmenian.net
Bravo!