Former chess player Garry Kasparov, who is the world champion, urged politicians to boycott the continental championship, which in the summer of 2018 will be hosted by Russia.

Kasparov, who is now a politician and is in opposition, opposes the Moscow regime and in particular the leadership of Russia.

"I, as a rule, oppose the boycott of sporting events at this stage, as this, in my opinion, punishes only the athletes.

But I advocate a political boycott of the regime in Moscow and of the hostile actions that the Russian leadership is taking, "Kasparov quotes Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Kasparov argued his decision by poisoning former Colonel GRU Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in early March 2018. Earlier it became known that to ignore the 2018 World Cup will be the policies of Great Britain Poland and Iceland.

Recall that the Mundial will be held from June 14 to July 15.