Late To Play? That'll Be €500

At the recent FIDE executive board meeting in Halkidiki, Greece, one of the most bizarre suggestions yet was thankfully NOT approved.  However, the FIDE powers-that-be may still try to introduce it at a later date.

The already hugely controversial policy of automatic defaults for players who are not seated ready at their boards at exactly the designated start time for a game, could be augmented with an astonishing €500 fine. 

A second offence would see the fine increase to €1,000 and if you still haven't learned your lesson from our FIDE overlords, a third occurrence would set you back €2,000.

Is FIDE actually serious?  Most players couldn't afford to pay these sort of fines, and would probably be hugely discouraged from entering an event if there was a possibility of such a severe punishment for simply being late.

World governing body? More like colossal world embarrassment...

(H/T The Closet Grandmaster)