The changing face of FIDE

By P.K. Ajith Kumar

KOZHIKODE, MAY 24. Sport has come a long away from its amateur days. It no longer is all about honour and competition. It also means big money today. And the associations need big money to run sport.

The world chess governing body, FIDE, too is getting commercialised. And the World chess championship, to be held in New Delhi from November 25, could well go a long way in achieving FIDE's objective.

FIDE has already set up a commercial arm, FIDE Commerce Plc., with Tarasov as its president, to make chess economically more viable. It has commercial wings in different parts of the world, including Washington, the Netherlands and Groningen. At the Presidential Board meeting of FIDE, which was held in London from May 12 to 14, it was decided to consider the proposals of the Commerce PCL at the General Assembley of FIDE scheduled at Istanbul, Turkey, in October.

``FIDE has had to face a few financial crises in the past, like the one we here in India encountered when we conducted the candidate matches in Sanghinagar in 1995,'' FIDE vice-president P.T. Ummer Koya told The Hindu here on Wednesday. ``And last year's World championship's guarantor was the FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The organisation, however, cannot depend on individuals forever. There has to be a peramanent system. So there is an urgent need to mobilise fund for the various activities of FIDE. Therefore, two years ago, FIDE decided to go commercial. It has been a slow beginning, but we are confident of reaching our goal. We are hoping to implement many of Commerce PCL's proposals at the coming World championship in New Delhi itself.''

In a lettter to Ummer Koya, dated March 7, Emmanuel Omuku, executive director, FIDE, outlined the organisational and functional plan for holding the World championship.

Internet has revolutionised our lives. As as far as sports is concerned there isn't a game more suited to the net as chess. You can conduct chess tournaments on the net - as the World No. 1 Garry Kasparov has - and you can easily follow games live from the world's strongest chess tournaments on the net. The net is in fact medium FIDE is hoping to cash in on.

The last World chess championship in Las Vegas in August, 1999, says Omuku in his letter, attracted over 35 million visitors to FIDE's site, which was created specially for the tournament. FIDE could sell the advertising on the web. Says Ummer Koya, ``This year also we will be broadcasting the World championship live on the net. We hope to market the game with the help of the net. Since, chess is one game closely associated with chess, we expect many software firms would also come forward to sponsor.''

Television is one medium which has been procuring huge financial benefits for many sports. Chess may not be a spectactor sport, but World championship in New Delhi could see some innovative coverage of the sport on television. FIDE Commerce PLC had carried out a research with a major television company and the Delhi championship is expected to provide it to an opportunity to show the game in a more exciting format. ``We are trying to make the best out of the television coverage of the World championship. There will be live coverage, and we will try to present it in the best possible way,'' said Ummer Koya.

The World chess championship has come a long way from the Champion v Challenger finals, which consumed a long time to find a new champion. With the advent of the knock-out format, which was first attempted at Groningen and Lausanne in 1998, the World championship has become more exciting and attractive from the sponosors' point of view. The player who emerges champion from this system may not be necessarily be the best player in the world just as the team winning Cricket's World Cup may not always be the strongest Test side in the world. Even Alexander Khalifman, who triumphed at Las Vegas last year, may not rate himself to be the best on the planet. But the format here is to stay, as chess has to move forward.

And marketing the sport also becomes important. ``India has made rapid strides in World chess in recent years, producing a large number of talented players. At the organisational level too, our efforts have been much appreciated by the other chess playing countries. It is in the marketing area, where we can do more. We hope to make a lot of progress in that regard in the coming World championship in New Delhi,'' said Ummer Koya.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Deep Sengupta bags under-12 title
Next     : Sudhakar Babu lifts title