Guyanese Youlander Persaud elected as FIDE Ethics Chair

Guyanese Attorney-at-Law and Director of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), Yolander Persaud, was elected as the Chairwoman of the FIDE (International Chess Federation) Ethics and Disciplinary Commission (EDC) after a fierce battle against three other candidates, ultimately leading to an unexpected win for Yolander over Daniel Florea from Romania.
With this win, she has etched herself in FIDE’s history, as the first woman to chair the EDC. The election was held at the FIDE General Assembly in Budapest, Hungary on September 21, 2024, with almost 180 delegates present from national chess federations worldwide.
Before the beginning of the proceedings, Johan Sigeman (Sweden) withdrew, after facing criticism for the EDC’s first-instance decision against the Russian Federation – to comply with international sports law and FIDE statutes to cease all chess activities in military-occupied parts of Ukraine, the failure of which resulted in Russia being banned by the EDC first-instance Panel (of which Yolander was also a member).

The election consisted of three rounds of voting; the first round was set aside due to electronic errors, after which the General Assembly proceeded to vote manually via ballot papers. The entire saga lasted close to nine hours. In the first round of manual voting, none of the three remaining candidates secured an absolute majority of 50.1 per cent (Babur Tolbaev, Florea, and Persaud). Persaud led the first round with 77 votes against Florea’s 59 votes and Tolbaev’s 26 votes. In the second round of voting, she emerged as the clear winner with an 86-75 margin over Florea.
The EDC is one of the most important commissions within FIDE and thrives on fairness and transparency. This Commission serves as a quasi-judicial arm of FIDE, where elected members preside over cases that infringe on the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Code. The cases range from those of a political nature to cheating, sexual assault and harassment, and fraud, etc.
Persaud possesses the experience and expertise to hold the chairmanship after serving six years on the EDC. She was the Deputy Chairperson for the period leading up to the elections, and the only woman who sat on the EDC for the past five years. She was well supported by the delegates in the General Assembly from almost all the continents.
In her statement, Persaud said, “I received the greatest recognition of my work in the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission – the confidence of the General Assembly to elect me as the Chairwoman of the EDC; the belief of the General Assembly in my integrity and independence.
“It is an absolute honour to be the first woman ever elected to chair this prestigious commission.
“FIDE celebrates 100 years and with my election, it celebrated inclusion, integrity, and equality.
“I thank my mentor Francois Strydom, who encouraged me to contend for this position, and prepared me for the succession, my colleagues in the EDC Commission 2018-2024, in particular Johan Sigeman; the support of my family; all the delegates who bravely supported my candidacy, lobbied for me, stayed by my side through the voting and tallying.”
Persaud, who holds an LEC from the Hugh Wooding Law School and an LLB from the University of Guyana, was admitted to the Bar in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago in 2014. She specialises in oil and gas law, having attained her LLM in Oil and Gas Law from the University of Aberdeen through a Chevening Scholarship. Persaud is also a National Arbiter and a FIDE Arbiter.
GCF President Anand Raghunauth praised Persaud’s election. He attributed her success to her skills, qualifications, and the positive reputation of her organisation. Raghunauth said that the GCF remained committed to supporting women’s participation and success in all aspects of chess.