Chess Federation Chairman Dr. Sarhan Al-Muaini stressed that he “does not lead the game association in a one-person style and has not turned into a dictator,” as some describe him, stressing that board meetings testify that all decisions made are approved by the majority.
Al-Muaini said in an interview with «Emirates Today», that the resigned members should have resorted to the general assembly if there were decisions taken within the union in violation of regulations and regulations instead of distorting the image of the game in the media, and in front of external federations, denying that he had received any assurances From the General Sports Authority to dissolve the federation and appoint an interim committee, suggesting that the text of Article 46 be used to end the outstanding crisis inside the federation.
Al-Muaini talked about the causes of the chess union crisis, the secret of the members ’resignations and his position on the upcoming elections, and other topics that came as follows.
What is the truth about what is said about the intention of the commission to dissolve the union?
This speech is echoed through social media accounts, and for the union that has not been received by any official thing in this regard, the commission has the entire file of the union in terms of resignations submitted by a group of council members, and in the end the current members are working in a double effort to continue the work, and today I think that The continuation of the Federation's activities, its contribution to organizing international championships, the latest of which is the Sharjah International Girls' Championship, confirms that chess was not affected by these resignations.
What is the secret of the differences between the members of the Board of Directors?
Harmony was not present among the members of the board of directors, but between the board and all clubs. Together, we achieved a great leap in foreign and domestic championships, and all the international, continental and Arab federations became representatives of the UAE chess, and until now I do not know the secret of the resignations, except for Abdullah Abdul Rahman because of his permanent presence outside the country due to his working conditions, while the rest did not inform the Council of its reasons.
It is said that resignations because of your unilateral decisions within the Federation?
Did the resigning members discover after more than three years in which we worked together that I am a “dictator”, all the decisions taken in the previous period were unanimous, and are fixed in the minutes of the council’s meetings, since I have been in the People's Club and Sharjah Chess Club, and in the Bow and Arrow Federation, why not This title follows me. Is it correct for our cases to be raised in the media? It is assumed that there is a general assembly to which members can turn and there are regulations governing work.
What is the way out of the current chess crisis?
Far from emotions, we have to refer to Article 46, which stipulates that in the event of the resignation of any members of the Board of Directors the General Assembly is invited to choose the alternative, and this is the best for the union in the coming period in my view.
Because the Federation is approaching international links in the near future, the most prominent of which is the hosting of the International Federation's "Congress", and there must be agreement between the clubs on this step in a way that preserves the game's stability. It is now more than ever demanding solidarity for the good of the game.
Are you said to have listed five clubs in the public to support you?
Firstly, until now I have not taken a decision to run in the upcoming elections for the presidency, nor have I announced this at any time, and our electoral campaign was based on finding chess clubs that cover all the Emirates in order to spread the game.
And I believe that we have achieved this project that we had planned away from any other accounts, because I did not assume the presidency of the federation for the sake of the elections, but for the sake of the interest of the game and its rise, and today we have become the third Arab country to have clubs registered in the federation.