Israel-Palestine war: Indian team withdraws from World Cadet Championship in Egypt

Chennai: All India Chess Federation (AICF) has decided to withdraw the Indian team from the World Cadet Championships scheduled to be held in Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh from October 14 to 23, citing security reasons due to the war between Israel and Palestine.

39 players from the country were supposed to take part in the tournament which included events in the under-12, 10 and 8 categories.

In a press release, AICF said, "Considering the ongoing situation at the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas and the age of participants, after due deliberations, it was decided to withdraw the participation of the Indian team in the World Cadet Chess Championship-2023".

"The Federation took this hard decision based on force majeure and unforeseen scenarios as we give paramount importance to the safety of our players even though our players put in almost one year of training to participate in this important event," it said.

According to AICF sources, around 80 people, including players, coaches and those accompanying the players, were to head to Sharm el Sheikh for the tournament.

"AICF took this decision considering all the aspects of safety and security of young players as Egypt shares the border with Gaza as well as Israel," the release said.

As the tournament host city Sharm el Sheikh is less than 400 KM from the Israel border, the conflict can significantly impact commercial airlines in the Middle East on short notice, it added.

Meanwhile, an AICF official said the Indian federation has requested the world chess body (FIDE) to postpone the tournament keeping in mind the situation in Gaza.

Israel has launched an unprecedented offensive against the Islamic militant group Hamas ruling Gaza after its fighters broke through the border fence and stormed into the country's south through air, land and sea on October 7.

With inputs from PTI