ACP reply to Ponomariov's open letter

To Ruslan Ponomariov, FIDE World Champion 11.04.2004

Dear Mr Ponomariov,

We thank you for addressing the ACP on the most important issue of the forthcoming 2004 FIDE World Championship.

It does strike us as illogical that the official FIDE World Champion should take part in a large knock-out event that will produce a winner, when the latter is then obliged to play a title match with a seeded player who is not a title holder. Considering that the seeded player was your official challenger for the same title several months before, the current format imposed by FIDE is devoid of any sense from the sporting point of view.

Therefore, we fully understand your position on this matter and inform you that it is shared by other leading players.

If you consider that your rights are being infringed from a legal standpoint by FIDE, you may send us all relevant documents and we shall contact the lawyer of the ACP on your behalf, in order to investigate this case.

With best regards,

The ACP Board 11.04.2004

ACP on Player's Undertaking

 

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