Vladimir Kramnik banned for two years by FIDE for unsubstantiated cheating allegations against Naroditsky, Navara

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik has been banned for two years by FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC) for his unsubstantiated cheating allegations against late Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, David Navara and others.

For the first year, Kramnik will not be able to participate in any activity involving chess. In the second year, he will be placed under a three-year probationary period and will be able to participate in events provided there are no further breaches during this time period.

The ruling from EDC comes nine months after the 29-year-old Naroditsky died due to a heart attack. Naroditsky had been repeatedly accused of cheating by Kramnik with Navara also facing similar attacks.

Kramnik banned for 2 years

The commission found Kramnik responsible for multiple violations of the FIDE Ethics Code and Disciplinary Code. It found that his conduct breached provisions relating to the right to dignity and respectful treatment, safeguarding the dignity of individuals, bullying and cyberbullying, psychological abuse, responsibility as a role model, failure to cooperate with the Fair Play Commission’s investigation, and false or unjustified public accusations.

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Some charges like alleged violations relating to integrity, honesty, responsibility and accountability, as well as causing reputational harm to FIDE were also dismissed. The committee concluded that these had not been established to the required standard.

The committee also highlighted that allegations of cheating must be handled through FIDE’s established confidential procedures and supported by appropriate evidence. The Commission concluded that publicly associating identifiable players with cheating suspicions without sufficient institutional verification exposed those players to unjustified reputational and psychological harm and was incompatible with the standards expected of members of the FIDE family.

Naroditsky had spoken about the mental stress he faced due to the cheating claims while Navara also had talked about the psychological load of such allegations.

Kramnik hit back at the verdict, calling it unlawful and said that he will appealing against it.

“Without going into details, the number of gross violations of major articles of the FIDE Regulations committed by the Ethics Commission in this case runs into the dozens,” Kramnik wrote in one tweet. “I am absolutely confident that this unlawful verdict will ultimately be overturned, and I intend to pursue all necessary instances to the very end in order to restore justice and, in particular, my reputation.”