Danailov to FIDE: "I will not allow such a mockery"

Silvio Danailov has reacted strongly to the recent developments around FIDE and the World Championship cycle. The President of the European Chess Union threatened to take FIDE to court for the way they treated the Bulgarian bid to host the 2012 Candidates Tournament, according to Chessdom.

Silvio Danailov

With three reports we covered the story over the past few weeks. In The Candidates' in London; is FIDE selling its World Championship cycle? we first mentioned that the FIDE Candidates Tournament is going to be held 23 October-13 November in London. We also introduced our readers to the company Agon and owner Andrew Paulson, who has big plans for chess in the coming years. In Tournament organizers and players not happy with Candidates Tournament dates we gave the microphone to the organizers of the Grand Slam Masters Final, the Tal Memorial and the London Chess Classic, who are all not too enthusiastic about the dates. Until then everything was based on an Ilyumzhinov interview, but with FIDE confirms agreements with CNC/Agon and Tretyakov things became official.

One person who is not amused, to put it mildly, is Silvio Danailov. In a report by Chessdom, he reacted strongly:

I will not allow such a mockery. Bulgaria and Azerbaijan have made their bid on time, while London does not have such. As a member of the FIDE Presidential board no one has informed me about any contracts. Ilyumzhinov can talk what he wants. When I see on paper the contract with Agon, with lawyers we will go to the CAS Sports Court in Lausanne. The Bulgarian Chess Federation worked long on this bid, we have talked to sponsors, ministers, and even the Prime Minister.

It's important to note that Danailov said this before FIDE published their press release which made things official. By that time, he probably also didn't know yet that 'Azerbaijan' and 'London' turned out to be one and the same bid.

According to the Chessdom report,

Danailov later clarifies that he has seen the proposal for contract with Agon in December, but that the offshore company Agon was created in January.

And indeed, as Colin McGourty tweeted, the Agon was registered in Jersey on January 12th, 2012. The company website has been found too, and at the moment it is clearly work in progress.

No doubt we'll hear more soon; Mr Paulson told us that he and FIDE intend to provide more details in the coming days.