‘Magnus Carlsen had enough time to change his jeans. We did not ban him; could have played’: FIDE CEO

FIDE CEO Emil Sutovski said Magnus Carlsen was not banned from the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York for violating the tournament’s dress code. The defending champion played the opening rounds of the Rapid tournament wearing jeans, which are “explicitly prohibited” under tournament rules. Sutovski said FIDE respected Carlsen and gave him the opportunity and time to change into formal attire. And when Carlsen did not agree to do so on the same day, head judge Alex Holowczak had no choice but to remove the pair with him in round 9 and subsequently disqualify him.

Sutovski said that Carlsen would have been allowed to continue playing if he had changed clothes in the time allotted to him, but because he himself decided it was against his principles, he pulled out.

“FIDE did not exclude Magnus from the tournament. He was not paired in round 9. He can continue tomorrow. We gave Magnus more than enough time to change. But as he himself had stated in his interview – it became a matter of principle for The rules apply for all participants, and it would be unfair to all players who respected the dress code and those who were previously imposed a dress code, and it was proposed by the athletics commission, consisting of grandmasters,” he wrote on X.

Sutovski added that FIDE has enormous respect for Marnus and his family, but it was not possible for them to bend the rules “(Having said that, I am sorry for the situation that arose – FIDE was very accommodating to Magnus and his family and we never wanted it to explode, but I fully support a decision by Chief Justice Alex Holowczak,” he added.

Earlier, Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi was also penalized for a similar offence, but he complied by changing his attire to continue in the event.

‘Tired of FIDE’s dress code policies’: Carlsen

Meanwhile, “upset” at the turn of events, Carlsen said he will not participate in the Blitz section of the championship as he is “quite fed up” with FIDE’s dress code policies.

“I’m quite tired of FIDE, so I don’t want any more of this. I don’t want anything to do with them. I’m sorry to everyone at home, maybe it’s a stupid principle, but I don’t think it’s fun,” Carlsen told the Norwegian TV channel NRK.

“I said I wouldn’t bother switching now, but I can switch tomorrow, that’s fine. But they didn’t want to compromise. I’ve reached a point where I’m quite upset with FIDE, so I didn’t either, so that’s the way it goes,” he added.