A recent article on Chessbase, Morocco Chess Federation hit with corruption troubles, by Diana Mihajlova, dated 12/9/2017, begins:
“The Royal Morocco Chess Federation has been in discord since members of its governing body raised the alarm over impropriety on the part of its leadership, including the disappearance of the equivalent of $200,000 US Dollars. Diana Mihajlova reports on a host of allegations which have beset the federation’s president Mustapha Amazzal.”
This is “Part one of a two-part chronicle.” It continues:
12/9/2017 – The Royal Morocco Chess Federation has been in discord since members of its governing body raised the alarm over impropriety on the part of its leadership, including the disappearance of the equivalent of $200,000 US Dollars. Diana Mihajlova reports on a host of allegations which have beset the federation’s president Mustapha Amazzal. Part one of a two-part chronicle.
It continues:
An uphill battle
“It comes as no surprise that people in power sometimes cannot resist abusing their position for personal benefit. Often, even when detected, the culprits operate with impunity amid comparatively powerless opposition. The sports world is rife with examples, and chess is no exception. In recognition of International Anti-Corruption Day we take a look at a story of a chess federation in turmoil, as its leadership is accused of exploiting the very players it is entrusted to represent.”
There is a reason “…the culprits operate with impunity amid comparatively powerless opposition.”
The reason is that the governing body of World Chess, FIDE, is a completely corrupt organization. For TWO DECADES FIDE has turned a blind eye to the corruption in the Royal Morocco Chess Federation because an investigation into Moroccan corruption could lead into an investigation of FIDE corruption.
From the article: “Among the serious charges are the expropriation of federation funds, players poached or replaced between competing chess clubs without consent or remuneration, suspensions on individual players and clubs without due process or cause, misappropriation of chess sets and clock grants by FIDE, fraudulent submission of arbiter certifications, failure to submit tournament ratings to FIDE, and general cronyism.”
I love the last part about “general cronyism!” Don’t you? Those two words nicely sum up FIDE.
The article continues:
“The chief target of these allegations is the president of the FRME, Mustapha Amazzal (pictured at right).”
More from the article:
“According to International Arbiter Zoheir Slami, a complaint against Amazzal has been filed before the Court of Appeal of Casablanca by the Moroccan Association for the Protection of the Public Money, headed by Mohammed El Ghaloussi. The prosecutor overseeing the case has referred the investigation to the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNJP), which tackles serious national crimes.”
https://en.chessbase.com/post/morocco-chess-federation-hit-with-corruption-troubles
Seeing the word Casablanca naturally brought back memories of one of my favorite movies, Casablanca. One of the main players in the movie was an ex-patriate American, Rick, or Richard Blaine, the owner of Rick’s Cafe Americain,
played by one of the all-time great actors, Humphrey Bogart, who also happened to be an avid Chess player who, it is written, played for money in New York city during one of the all too frequent depressions caused by capitalist economic policies.
Armchair Warrior 