Accusations of Poison Plot Made Against Russian Chess Player During Championship
LONDON — An individual from Russia who plays chess has been barred from engaging in all competitions after being accused of attempting to contaminate her opponent’s pieces, officials have disclosed.
Amina Abakarova is currently under scrutiny by the Russian Chess Federation for her alleged scheme against a competitor during the Dagestan Republic Championship in Makhachkala; the primary city of Russia’s Dagestan republic.
Andrey Filatov, the head of the Russian Chess Federation, stated that the association is temporarily halting Abakarova — who hails from Dagestan — from all of its competitions until law enforcement agencies finalize their investigation. Sanctions could entail a permanent disqualification, Filatov mentioned. Abakarova might even confront criminal charges.
Dagestan Sports Minister Sazhid Sazhidov expressed in a declaration that Abakarova had “treated the table at which she was sitting with an unidentified substance, which later turned out to be mercury compounds.” Her adversary was fellow Dagestani Umaiganat Osmanov, Sazhidov noted.
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Sazhidov remarked that he was “perplexed by what occurred, and the reasons that motivated such a seasoned athlete as Amina Abakarova are also unfathomable to me.”
“The deeds she carried out could have resulted in the most tragic consequence; they endangered the lives of everyone present in the chess establishment, including herself. Now she will be held accountable for her actions before the judiciary.”
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.