The chess federations of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland continue to uphold their joint policy, established in March 2022, banning players officially representing the Chess Federation of Russia or Belarus from participating in international chess tournaments hosted within Nordic countries zones.

Exemptions remain in place for players who permanently reside in the Nordic countries or for younger players born in 2008 or later (u18).

As tournament organizers, these federations retain full authority under FIDE regulations to implement additional restrictions at events they host, including prohibiting the display of Russian or Belarusian national flags, anthems, country names on name cards or scoreboards, or other national identifiers.

This position is consistent with their strong opposition – reaffirmed in December 2025 – to FIDE’s decisions at the General Assembly on 14 December 2025, which partially lifted global sanctions by readmitting Russian and Belarusian teams to official events, fully restoring national symbols for youth competitions, and deferring a final decision on adult symbols pending IOC consultation.

Despite these global changes, the Nordic federations maintain their stricter regional measures.

Individual national federations may impose even stricter rules for specific tournaments.

As of January 2026, this Nordic policy remains firmly in force, reflecting continued solidarity with Ukraine amid the ongoing war and alignment with broader European sports sanctions.