Grandmaster Rajib boycotts Israel in Chess olympiad
The grandmaster made his decision known through a late-night Facebook post after the match pairing between Bangladesh and Israel was confirmed.
Bangladeshi Grandmaster Enamul Hossain Razib has announced via social media that he will not be playing in Bangladesh's 10th round match against Israel in the Chess Olympiad today.
The 10th round is scheduled to start at 7:00pm Bangladesh time in Budapest, where the event is taking place.
Razib's post read: "Russia and Belarus were not allowed to participate as teams in the 2024 Hungary Chess Olympiad and the 2022 Chennai Chess Olympiad. So how is Israel allowed to participate under the current circumstances? Tomorrow, we face them. I am boycotting." His message was accompanied by the hashtags #BoycottIsrael and #StandWithJustice.
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Although Bangladesh has no diplomatic ties with Israel, encounters between sportspeople from the two countries, especially in chess, are rare but not unprecedented.
The boycott follows strong resentment in Bangladesh towards Israeli policies, which intensified after the Hamas attack on an Israeli concert on 7 october last year. Israel's subsequent retaliation has resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 people in Gaza and other occupied territories.
It remains unclear if Bangladesh will field a full four-member team without Razib or if they will face any sanctions from FIDE, the governing body of chess, should they choose not to.
Attempts to reach Razib for further comment were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Syed Shahabuddin Shamim, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Chess Federation currently with the team in Budapest, was also unavailable for comment despite multiple attempts.
