Latest news with #Rozman
Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Team Ineos release statement in response to Paul Kimmage article in Sunday Independent
Team principal Dave Brailsford refused to comment when approached on a number of occasions at the Tour de France about the revelations that David Rozman, a long-term carer at the British cycling team, arranged to meet Dr Mark Schmidt at the team hotel during the 2012 Tour. The team were also asked for comment before the publication of last weekend's article by Paul Kimmage but they did not respond. A statement from the team was released on Thursday night. 'Ineos Grenadiers Cycling Team is aware of recent media allegations relating to the 2012 season and a member of its staff,' it read. 'These allegations have not to date been presented to the team by any appropriate authority, however the team has made a formal request to the International Testing Agency (ITA) to request any information it considers relevant. The team reiterates its policy of zero tolerance to any breach of the applicable WADA codes, historic or current.' The statement failed to address any of the key issues raised in the Sunday Independent story which followed on from an investigative television documentary by German broadcasters ARD that linked a Team Ineos staff member with Dr Schmidt, based on German Court documents, who was sent to prison for five years for his part in the blood-doping investigation, Operation Aderlass. ARD could not name the Ineos staff member due to legal and privacy laws in Germany but he was identified as Rozman in the Sunday Independent last week. The Slovenia carer, or masseur, has been with the team since 2011, when it was known as Team Sky, and had been working at this year's Tour de France. The recent reporting has revealed details that were part of Schmidt's 2020 criminal trial, including a number of text message exchanges between Schmidt and Rozman. Brailsford returned to Team Ineos before this year's Tour de France after stepping back from his role with Manchester United. Brailsford led the team through their most successful period during which they won seven Tours in eight years, starting with Bradley Wiggins in 2012. Rozman is believed to have worked with four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome. No Team Sky/Ineos rider has been sanction or named in the investigation.
Indian Express
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Why chess needs every influencer and the casual fans they bring to the sport
In the world of chess, a spicy feud is never more than a news cycle away. The year which started with Magnus Carlsen taking on FIDE over wearing jeans at a tournament has just seen its most needless controversy of the year. The latest to and fro involves FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky, who took exception to comments that popular streamer Levy Rozman, known as Gotham Chess to his 6.45 million YouTube subscribers, made in an interview with the influential New In Chess magazine. The magazine played up a quote on X with a photo of Rozman which read: 'People know three chess players: Magnus (Carlsen), Hikaru (Nakamura) and me. That's bad. That's not my fault. And I hope it changes.' Even as Rozman tried to say the quote posted on X lacked context in which it was made during the interview, it got Sutovsky disagreeing with the comment in one tweet where, among other things, he wrote: 'I also feel that in general streamers/YouTubers' impact on the game is much less significant than it used to be a few years ago.' Sutovsky doubled down on this in his next post on X: 'I think there is another aspect to it, often neglected. Say, youtuber G vs youtuber S. G has three times more subscribers, but how many of them become real chess fans? Play regularly? Start following events, take chess lessons, become a part of chess ecosystem? S may have much less subscribers, but they become hardcore chess fans, and not just consumers of the channel's content. Who's contribution to the chess world is more important? I go with S.' Rozman, affronted by what he termed was Sutovsky 'questioning his contributions to the chess world and his overall standing as a content creator', responded in the only way he knew how to, by creating more content: this time posting a 52-minute-long video on his YouTube handle (watched by 757k viewers), which started off as an impassioned defence of himself and ended with an interview with ChessBase India's Sagar Shah, who was being compared to Rozman by Sutovsky. Rozman went on to point out how vague some of the things Sutovsky had raised were. Like what is the definition of a 'hardcore fan'? Or a 'real fan', for that matter? How does one measure contributions from two influencers to a sport? Or, more importantly, why is the FIDE CEO even looking to compare contributions from two social media influencers? Shouldn't the global governing body of a sport be happy at any attention it receives? Sutovky himself, in an interview with ChessBase India a couple of months back, had spoken at length about how chess is a 'complex sport to follow for the wider public'. He added that at the moment chess is a product that is best suited to be consumed by 'hardcore chess audiences'. But in Rozman, the sport has someone who simplifies a complex sport for that very subsection of the wider public. An affronted Rozman pointed out that the FIDE CEO's post on X was implying that the fans he brought into the sport did not matter as much because they were 'casual fans' who don't convert to 'hardcore fans'. 'He's inherently pitting chess fans against one another whereas sports only survive and thrive based on casual fandom. This is such a backwards argument. Fundamentally this is the problem of the chess world. We do not make it more accessible,' said Rozman. The sport, more than any other in the world right now, finds itself in an endless loop of controversy driving public attention towards itself. If Carlsen quits a tournament over jeans or smashes his fist on a table after a loss, it makes headlines in places around the world where it doesn't usually penetrate. Rozman also alleged that FIDE doesn't market events that it organises like the Candidates and then adding that the prize fund for the World Chess Championship — the most coveted event in the sport — has not grown in almost 40 years. (This is not entirely accurate: the total prize fund at last year's World Championship match, which Gukesh won, was $2.5 million. Whereas the overall prize fund for the FIDE World Chess Championship in 1990 between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov was even higher, $3 million!) Rozman placed the responsibility for both of these things at FIDE's doorsteps. The sport, despite its recently post-pandemic glow up and incoming new fans, is still struggling to find television broadcasters (Sutovsky himself had said that getting chess on TV was an 'insurmountable task' in a recent interview), one of the best yardsticks for judging a sport's popularity. In all fairness to FIDE, it does do a fair bit away from the spotlight when it comes to creating chess tournaments, not just at the elite levels, but also at the age group events like World Junior Championships. This includes events like the World Schools Championships, where FIDE bears the costs of one team per country. FIDE also has a program in place where a national chess federation can nominate two players to get online training under some of the top coaches in the world. The sport has other impending challenges creeping up on it as well: Carlsen, who is the face of the sport, is slowly but surely drifting away from the traditional formats of the sport. Once he leaves, does the sport have anyone who can take his place and pull in casual audiences that don't necessarily understand the sport, but will stop by to read the headlines anyway? Maybe not. The most mature take on the whole matter came from Shah, whose ChessBase India channel has 2.72 million subscribers (which, as Sutovsky pointed out, was three times less than Rozman's). 'Be it chess organizations, creators, top players, it is clear that we are all helping each other and pushing the chess ecosystem in the right direction in our own special ways,' Shah wrote on X. 'I think it is futile to think who has contributed more to the cause of popularizing chess.' Chess needs all the influencers and all the fans — no matter if they're casual fans or hardcore ones — it can get. But more than anything, it needs better and more substantial feuds. Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
Time of India
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
GothamChess addresses viral drama over Emil Sutovsky's tweet: 'It should change.. now I look like an egocentric idiot'
(Image via YouTube/GothamChess) A major controversy in the chess community has sparked discussions this week, putting International Master Levy Rozman in hot water after he made a comment about his fame. It further escalated when Emil Sutovsky, FIDE CEO, weighed in, leading to a feud. The entire drama involved perceptions of players' fame in the game and online creators' influence. Rozman now has stepped forward with the pointed response, clarifying his stance on this escalating situation. GothamChess claims misrepresentation of the post, calling it out of context Levy Rozman has finally addressed the ongoing drama which was ignited after a critical tweet by Emil Sutovsky. It's asserted by him that his non-controversial statement that was made on the global chess recognition was ripped from its original context, leading to a widespread misinterpretation. "This image and quote is quite out of context, which is annoying, but understandable," Rozman stated as he expressed his frustration at how his words got spread online. GothamChess further clarified his intention, which was not self-aggrandizement. He explained, "My quote was a reference to... speaking to an athlete (casual chess fan) who could only name myself, Magnus, and Hikaru as chess." My Response To The Allegations The International Master further emphasized he was trying to highlight a problem. He said, "I was simply making the point that it's unfortunate if someone can only name us 3 as chess players, and it should change. But of course, now I look like an egocentric idiot." He conceded this label might at times fit, but he argued it was definitely undeserved in the instance. Discussing the original comment that sparked the entire drama 'That's Not My Fault' – GothamChess Fires Back in Chess Drama! The ongoing controversy can be traced back to the interview Rozman gave during one of his recent European tours. An individual reportedly expressed difficulty following up professional chess and claimed familiarity with only 3 figures worldwide: Magnus Carlsen Hikaru Nakamura, and Levy Rozman Rozman presented the anecdote not as a boast but as evidence of some significant accessibility gap that exists within chess. The core argument of the player, before the quote gained traction, was actually centered on the struggle of the game to promote a diverse array of top players to a mainstream audience, much beyond dedicated fans. He even saw the limitation within recognition as a barrier to a player's broad growth. Emil Sutovsky challenged the streamer's perfection and influence The drama escalated when Emil Sutovsky, the CEO of the global governing body of chess, shared Rozman's isolated quote on social media. Posting the image, he questioned the fans, "Do you agree with that? I don't - but maybe that's because my bubble consists of hardcore chess fans." He even directly critiqued Rozman's viewpoint as "extremely US-centric," reflecting regional bias. Further, Sutovsky even cast doubt on YouTubers' and chess streamers' current impact, suggesting their significance has decreased compared to the previous years. He stated, " I also feel, that in general streamers/youtubers impact on the game is much less significant than it used to be few years ago," acknowledging he "might err." His comments prompted a flood of reactions, debating chess popularity's true drivers today. Chess Community reacts to Emil Sutovsky's stance Sutovsky doubled down in the follow-up tweet that quite subtly compared Rozman to Sagar Shah (ChessBase India), suggesting that Shah's content creates "hardcore chess fans" and not just some casual viewers. It further sparked more debates on whether chess's popularity should be measured by the mass appeal or its dedicated engagement. Rozman did fire back and defended content creators and their roles within growing chess. He argued that without any accessible figures, including himself, there would be many fans who would not engage with the game at all. On the other hand, Shah took a diplomatic stance, praising creators and FIDE for pushing the game of chess forward. The entire drama highlights a very deep divide between whether or not chess requires mainstream influencers or any traditional ambassadors to thrive. For now, the debate is still raging without any resolution. But hopefully, it will soon come to an end. Game On Season 1 kicks off with Sakshi Malik's inspiring story. Watch Episode 1 here
