No wild card for Chess Olympiad players – NCF
By Agency Reporter
Published: Wednesday, 24 Mar 2010
The Nigeria Chess Federation said on Tuesday no player would enjoy a wild card to represent the country at the Chess Olympiad billed for Siberia from September 19 to October 4.
NCF Media Officer Femi Solaja made the clarification after the federation’s qualifiers to select players for the Olympiad began in Lagos on Monday.
Solaja told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday that the country’s representatives to the Olympiad would only be selected from among players who participate in the qualifiers.
“The players are gearing up toward being selected for the world event. Some of our outstanding players are not here because of domestic issues.
“But the decision of the technical committee is that no player will be exempted from playing in the qualifiers and any player that is not here is out,” Solaja said.
He said that the best 10 players in the male and female categories would be invited for the second phase of qualifiers in April.
“Fifty-four of the 64 invited male players are here, while 25 out of 54 invited females are also here.
“Ten each from the categories will be selected for the second and final phase where the five each will emerge to represent the country,” Solaja said.
The qualifiers holding at the National Stadium, Lagos ends on March 27.
Source: http://www.punchng.com
This is a bad system.