President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has transferred the powers of his office to Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos following the announcement that the US Treasury had placed him on a blacklist. The blacklist forbids US citizens from doing business with Ilyumzhinov. On December 6, the FIDE office in Athens released a statement which said Ilyumzhinov had withdrawn from FIDE’s legal, financial and business operations. The statement read in part as follows:
“Following the announcement by the US Department of Treasury that the US levied sanctions against Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian citizen and FIDE President, Mr Ilyumzhinov has informed the Presidential Board that he will withdraw from any legal, financial, and business operations of FIDE until such time as Mr Ilyumzhinov is removed from the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanction list.
“Mr Ilumzhinov advised he has initiated legal procedures in the US aiming to request additional information and reverse restrictive measures put by the US Department of the Treasury. During the next Presidential Board meeting,