The International Chess Federation which is commonly identified as FIDE came under criticism for partnering with breast enlargement company, Motiva as a sponsor for the women’s game.
Some of the female players have called the decision “gross” and “misogynistic”, reported The Guardian.
FIDE announced the deal till 2022, a year that was earmarked as ‘The Year of Women in Chess’. But the move has not received the response the body expected.
“Shouldn’t chess – a game reliant on brains rather than breasts – be distancing itself from that kind of reductive and misogynistic line of thinking?” one anonymous female player told The Guardian.
However, Sheila Barth Stanford, a women’s international grandmaster welcomed the decision as it would help more women’s players play it professionally.
The international chess body has always been criticised for not paying enough attention to the women’s game that has only 39 female grandmasters out of around 1,300 overall.
But FIDE said that the deal which was the single largest corporate sponsorship ever signed specifically for women in chess was discussed by the management and the FIDE Council, both bodies that have women representation.
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