Statement by the IAIS Executive Committee

November 12th, 2024

On November 5, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office declared the International Association of Intellectual Games (German: IAIS, Russian: МАИИ) to be an undesirable organization.

The IAIS functions much like an international sports federation, developing standards and recommendations used by players across various countries. We have always been an open platform for exchanging ideas and have never aimed to monopolize intellectual gaming processes. We offer everyone the freedom of choice to use our tools or others.

The decision by Russian authorities to ban such an organization seems unusual; however, it aligns with a seeming desire by the Russian Government to limit or control any independent intellectual activity.

The IAIS has not held events in Russia, nor do we have or plan to create local offices there. Nonetheless, we recognize that the undesirable status poses risks of prosecution for Russian residents (regardless of citizenship) and citizens (regardless of residence). To protect IAIS members and other Russian players, IAIS has taken the following measures. We have;

• recommended that all Russian citizens and residents involved with IAIS, whether as members or in official roles in its bodies, leave the organization and step down from their positions with immediate effect.
• temporarily suspended new membership intake.
• ceased accepting payments and donations from Russian accounts; it is no longer technically possible to make payments in this manner.
• ceased granting any IAIS endorsements to tournaments for the foreseeable future.
• halted the support of the rating system for the foreseeable future, and this includes results from IAIS-endorsed tournaments.

As of November 12, all IAIS working groups and the supervisory audit commission have ceased operations due to the understandable resignation of numerous members. While IAIS had active members from countries beyond Russia, the high level of uncertainty has made it difficult to plan even for these aforementioned bodies that still have enough members to function. The organization’s work can resume only after a general assembly and recruitment of new participants.

The general assembly, which will determine the future structure of IAIS, will be organized by the remaining incumbent members of the Executive Committee: Roman Nemuchinsky, Jury Razumau, and Alexey Stich.