Report: Peruvian Player Disqualified After Accusing Team Captain Of Sexual Harassment

A Peruvian chess player was removed from the national Olympic team after she accused the team captain of sexual harassment, according to a report by the Spanish newspaper El País.

It's a disturbing story that was published in the largest Spanish-language newspaper by the experienced chess journalist Leontxo García. It is about WIM Ingrid Aliaga, rated 2194 and the number-four female chess player in Peru on the FIDE rating list.

According to El País, the president of the Peruvian chess federation, Boris Ascue, removed her from the national Olympic team that will play in the Batumi Olympiad (starting in two weeks from now) after she accused her Cuban team captain Dorges Heredia of sexual harassment in early March of this year.

The accusation came with proof: On March 15 an audio recording appeared in which Heredia reportedly admits his wrong behavior several times during a meeting with Aliaga and other players—one of them secretly recorded the conversation. Furthermore, a number of players testified before the Peruvian chess federation against their team captain.

Ascue, who initially had accused Aliaga of discrediting Heredia, withdrew the Cuban from the training sessions after the proof and the testimonies appeared.

However, on September 3, Heredia published an open letter on Facebook, as reported by El País. (Chess.com couldn't verify the open letter; it may have been removed.) In the letter, Heredia is said to have denied the accusation and to have claimed that the audio recording was rigged. He reportedly tried to discredit Aliaga, accusing her of "a trajectory of scandals, lies and indiscipline."

Meanwhile, Peru's number-one female player WGM Deysi Cori has endorsed Aliaga's accusation repeatedly, before and after the publication of the open letter.

Ascue has removed Aliaga from the team, claiming the decision was based on the results of the 2018 Peruvian chess championship, where Aliaga finished in sixth place. The championship took place only a few days after the harassment and Aliaga claimed she was still affected psychologically.

"For that same reason I did not file the official complaint until May, because I did not dare. But now I ask all athletes affected by similar cases in any country in the world not to be afraid and denounce it," said Aliaga.

In April of this year, the first room of the Higher Council of Sports Justice and Sports Honors in Peru dismissed Ascue as president of the chess federation, for breach of the Sports Promotion and Development Law and for having a criminal record, as reported by Peruvian media.

He nonetheless continues to serve as the chess federation's president, according to El País because he is "protected by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and tolerated by the Peruvian Sports Institute (IPD)."

GM Julio Granda Zuniga, Peru's number-one player (and part of Arkady Dvorkovich's presidential ticket), was quoted saying he regrets the reputational damage of his country: "This whole thing is shameful."