Ukrainian grandmaster Ivanchuk refused to be allowed out of the country for the sake of the FIDE World Cup
FIDE said that under current law, in order to leave the country for sporting purposes, an athlete needed permission from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, which he was denied. It is noted that the request from the organizers of the World Cup, the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, was also rejected.
The World Cup will be held in Baku from July 29 to August 25. Ivanchuk received a wild card from FIDE to participate in this tournament.
Ivanchuk is the 2016 World Rapid Chess Champion and a four-time World Chess Olympiad champion (1988, 1990, 2004, 2010). He lives in Lvov.
In May 2022, the Ukrainian authorities allowed athletes and coaches who participate in international competitions to travel abroad. Athletes can stay abroad continuously for no more than 30 days.
Comment: What are the authorities afraid of? That he'll never come back? That if he leaves he'll use the opportunity of safety to speak out against the Kiev regime? We know that they're conscripting nearly every male (who doesn't have connections with government) in order to ship them to the meat grinder, but surely they don't intend to send their chess master there?
Either way, it speaks to the desperate situation the Kiev junta have put themselves in.