In view of a number of statements made regarding the composition of the FIDE World University Team Chess Championship Final, FIDE wishes to clarify the following:
1. The FIDE World University Team Chess Championship is a competition between universities, not national federations. No national federation has participated in the formation of any team, submitted an application on its behalf, or approved its line-up.
2. The tournament regulations expressly allow players affiliated with different national federations to represent the same university team. Several participating teams have exercised this right. This clearly demonstrates that university teams are not, and cannot be treated as, national teams.
3. All participating teams compete under the symbols of their respective universities, not national emblems. For example, four universities from the United States and two from the United Kingdom have qualified for the final, yet none of these teams represents the national team of its federation.
4. With regard to the team of Ural State Mining University (Yekaterinburg), the claim that it is affiliated with the Chess Federation of Russia is unsupported by any evidence. The university’s geographic location alone does not establish any legal or organisational affiliation with the Chess Federation of Russia.
5. Article 13.6 of the FIDE Charter provides that suspended Member Federations lose the right for their national teams to participate in FIDE competitions. This provision does not apply to university teams, which are formed and entered independently of any national federation.
Accordingly, FIDE confirms that the team representing Ural State Mining University is fully eligible to participate in the FIDE World University Team Chess Championship Final. Any suggestion to the contrary is without factual or legal basis.