Former International Chess Federation presidential candidate Wadim Rosenstein has denied allegations that his business circumvented sanctions on Russia and says he is contesting the outcome of the federation's September election. His comments were reported by Apostrophe and summarized in English by UNN.
Rosenstein said he had faced pressure to withdraw from the race and rejected claims about Russia-related transactions by companies associated with him. He also said he had submitted complaints about the election. Those are his accounts of contested events; the reports do not establish whether a sanctions rule was broken or whether his complaints will succeed.
FIDE's published result shows Timur Turlov defeated Rosenstein 110 votes to 85 in the second round on 26 September in Samarkand. FIDE's General Assembly subsequently recorded Turlov's election as president. Rosenstein's objection does not by itself change that official result.
A separate dispute over Ukrainian representation
The election argument overlaps with another institutional dispute, but the two should not be conflated. FIDE's General Assembly listed Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak among its new vice presidents. In a 30 October statement, the European Chess Union said it supported the Ukrainian Chess Federation's challenge to FIDE's decision to issue Podolyak a FIDE ID under Ukraine without consulting or informing the national federation.
The ECU statement addresses Podolyak's identification and representation status. It does not announce that the presidential election has been set aside. For now, the independently documented position is that Turlov is FIDE president, while Rosenstein's allegations and the Ukrainian federation's separate objection remain matters of dispute.