9 Year Old Sues Chess Federation

From dajiworld.com (Western India) Thursday, February 28, 2008 8:14:39 PM (IST) B'gady: Chess Prodigy Shabdik Moves Court against Federation Beltangady 28: A 9-year-old chess player Shabdik Varma, a student of Ujire SDM English Medium School has gone on appeal to the local Court against All India Chess Federation (AICF) for injustice meted out by the latter to him. Varma was recommended by the Federation to play in a tournament at Sri Lanka. He had made all the arrangements to visit Sri Lanka but owing to the indifferent attitude of the Federation his tour was cancelled at the eleventh hour. Later he issued a notice to the Federation seeking compensation for mental trauma that he had to undergo owing to the apathy shown by the Federation. However, Federation overlooked Shabdik's plea. Meanwhile Federation secretary D V Sundar said to have threatened Shabdik of moving court. "It is against Federation's rules to move court. By issuing notice to the Federation, you have broken the Federation norms which may in turn result in banning you from the future tourneys being organized by the Federation. Why should not we remove your name from our listed players?" asked a Show Cause notice issued by the Federation. Reacting sharply to this, Shabdik's lawyers Ajith and Badrinath have filed a written petition with the Sports Authority of India and the Indian Government. They have made an appeal with the concerned authorities not to follow separate rules for chess players based on their region. If their plea still goes unheard, chances are that they may move High Court in this regard. They have also appealed for a probe with regard to the apathy shown by the Federation.