Safety measures there to handle extreme scenarios; Cyprus safe for Candidates: FIDE

NICOSIA (Cyprus), March 25: The International Chess Federation (FIDE) on Wednesday sought to downplay security concerns surrounding the upcoming Candidates Tournament in Cyprus, insisting that safety measures and contingency plans are in place to deal with “extreme” scenarios.Cyprus is geographically close to West Asia, which is currently in the middle of a military conflict that started with American and Israeli bombing of Iran.The island nation endured a drone attack on a British air base that it houses earlier this month.
Citing security apprehensions, Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy pulled out of the tournament, that will decide the challenger for the men’s and women’s world titles. The Candidates tournament begins this Saturday.
“Cyprus is a safe country to travel. There is no emergency situation, and the country continues to operate normally. All necessary measures are in place to ensure a secure, comfortable, and well-organised environment for all participants, media, and guests,” the FIDE said on Wednesday, addressing concerns that have also been voiced by another prominent Candidates competitor, Hikaru Nakamura.
Nakamura, who has been in Cyprus for the past few weeks, has stated that he experienced disruptive power cuts during his stay, which cannot be a good sign. FIDE said the risk of power cuts is extremely low and “overstated”.
“Power shortages in Cyprus are very rare and typically short-lived. ” it said. (PTI)