Procedural rules for appeals against QC decisions regarding not to rate specific tournaments

The procedural rules to appeal the decisions of the Qualification Commission on not rating specific tournaments were published in the FIDE Handbook: QC Appeal Rules

You can also find them here:

1.       PREAMBLE  

1.1     The FIDE President approves these procedural rules (the “Rules”) related to the procedures to be applied to appeals submitted against the Qualification Commission decisions not to rate certain tournaments in accordance with the art. 0.4 of the Rating regulations effective from 1^st March, 2024 (or another relevant document, if applicable as of the date of submission of the appeal).

1.2     In these Rules, unless otherwise specified:

1. references to the “Charter” shall be construed as references to the FIDE Charter effective from 1 March 2020;
2. references to the “Rating Regulations” shall be construed as references to the Rating regulations effective from 1st March, 2024;
3. references to the “Rules” shall be construed as references to these procedural rules as specified in the art. 1.1 hereof;
4. references to “FC”, shall be construed as references to the  FIDE Council as specified in the Art. 20 of the Charter;
5. references to the “QC” shall be construed as references to the FIDE Qualification Commission;
6. references to “Member Federations” shall be construed as references to Member Federations as specified in the Art. 9 of the Charter;
7. references to the “FIDE Office” shall mean the official administrative office of FIDE in Lausanne and other approved places;
8. references to a “person” shall be construed to include any natural person and artificial person, such as, but not limited to, a corporation, body corporate, firm, association, partnership, confederation, national federation, or club, (whether having separate legal personality or not), unless the context otherwise requires;

1.3     In the event of any inconsistency between these Rules and the Charter, the Charter shall prevail. 

2.       SUBMISSION OF APPEALS

2.1     In accordance with the art. 0.4 of the Rating regulations FIDE reserves the right not to rate a specific tournament. Such a decision may be appealed against by:

1. the organiser of the relevant tournament; or
2. the Member Federation to which the organiser belongs.

2.2     The appeal shall be submitted by the Member Federation (which submitted the relevant tournament for rating) or by the organiser within seven days after the decision not to rate the tournament is announced to the Member Federation (or to the public, if applicable) or, in case with the organiser’s appeal, from the date when information about such a decision is known to the organiser. In any case, a complaint cannot be filed later than two months after the date of publication of the rating list, in which the tournament would have been taken into account in the absence of a refusal by the QC. The proof of the date of receipt of information shall be enclosed by the organiser in addition to documents specified in the art. 2.3 and shall be reviewed among other materials by the QC. The appeal shall be subject to a EUR 300 fee. The fee shall be non-refundable, unless otherwise decided in accordance with the art. 3.10 of these Procedural rules.

2.3     The appeal shall comprise of a written statement, made and signed by the person duly authorized to represent the appellant, submitted in Portable Document Format (*pdf file), specifying:

1. Information regarding the relevant tournament (Name, place / venue, dates)
2. name and contact details of the appellant;
3. identity, position and contact details of the person signing the appeal (if signed by representative);
4. detailed statement explaining why the appealed decision should be cancelled;
5. reference to evidence, if any, in support of the appellant’s position.

2.4     Following documents shall be enclosed to the appeal:

1. payment order or another document confirming payment of the EUR 300 appeal fee. Details for payment should be requested by the appellant from the FIDE Financial Department at accounts@fide.com. In the case of economic hardship, the FC may, upon request and motivation by the appellant, waive the requirement for the payment of the appeal fee;
2. evidence and other materials in support of the appeal.

2.5     Documentary proof such as letters, reports, e-mail exchanges, text messages, Internet articles, webpage images and social media copies may be used as exhibits to the appeal and must be separately marked with an identifying number and submitted in PDF format.

2.6     The appeal and all the documents enclosed to it shall be submitted to the office@fide.com with a cover letter directly specifying the intention of the appellant to appeal against a certain decision of the QC within the term specified in the art. 2.3 hereof.

2.7     Additional documents and materials may be submitted within 14 days after the initial submission of the appeal by the appellant or within 10 days after the FC request to provide extra material, unless other term is specified by the FC.

2.8     It is not required that the written statement shall be confirmed under oath or solemn declaration, but this does not detract from the obligation resting on the appellant to ensure that his/her statement truthfully, correctly and fairly sets out all the material facts related to the appeal. 

3.       APPEAL PROCEDURE

3.1     The FC shall only consider appeals which satisfy the procedural requirements as specified herein.

3.2     The FIDE Office, within a reasonable time period, shall formally acknowledge receipt of the appeal, keep a record of the appeals and send a copy of the appeal to the QC Chair and to the FIDE Legal Director.

3.3     The QC shall study the appeal and provide an opinion on the case to the FIDE Legal Director in writing within ten business days upon receipt of the appeal.

3.4     FIDE Legal Director shall study the appeal and the opinion of the QC within ten business days after receiving the opinion of the QC, and shall suggest a motivated decision for the FC to vote for or against.

3.5     FIDE Legal Director may request additional information from the QC or from the appellant if required in order to study the appeal and prepare the suggested decision. The FIDE Legal Director also may submit additional materials provided by the appellant to the QC for additional comments, if necessary.

3.6     The suggested motivated decision will be submitted by the FIDE Legal Director to the FC with the appeal, all of its attachments and the opinion of the QC.

3.7     The FC may, if necessary:

1. request extra information and/or materials either from the QC, from the FIDE Legal Director or from other FIDE organs and officials – to be provided in the working order;
2. request extra information and/or materials from the appellant – to be provided as specified in the art. 2.7 hereof.

3.8     The FIDE Office shall provide secretarial assistance as well as administrative and PR support to the FC and provide the FC with the contact details of FIDE organs, officials and of FIDE Member Federations, if required.

3.9     FIDE organs and officials shall cooperate with the FC by providing, without undue delay, accurate and complete information and documentation, access or assistance upon request by the FC.

3.10   At the conclusion of the case, the appeal fee may be refunded to the appellant by FIDE if the FC decides that there was objective merit in the appeal regardless of the outcome of the case.

4.       DECISION ON THE APPEAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

4.1     Decisions with reference to the appeal shall be made by the FC within a regular FC session or within an online conference or online voting. Therefore, the QC and FIDE Legal Director will prepare the suggested decision before the relevant FC session or relevant online voting.

4.2     Should there be extra information required for FC to make a decision, the FC may prepare and send relevant request and to postpone the vote until its next session.

4.3     The decision on each separate appeal case shall be made without participation of the appellant.

4.4     The decision of the FC on the appeal case shall be final.

4.5     These rules apply to all complaints against QC decisions, including the complaints that were filed before October 22, 2024, but not considered by the time of approval of these rules.