The Irish Chess Union received an allegation of cheating at a tournament that took place in Ireland in April. The ICU take such allegations extremely seriously, and, in accordance with its Constitution, and Code of Conduct, the Executive Committee of the ICU appointed a Disciplinary Sub-committee to investigate the matter. The Disciplinary Sub-committee found that the player had indeed cheated at the tournament, by consulting a programme on an electronic device outside the playing area whilst the game was in progress. The player admitted the offence. Because the player is a minor, the player is not being named by the ICU. The Disciplinary Committee decided that, taking all the circumstances into account, the player should be subject to a four-month ban on playing in tournaments rated by the Irish Chess Union, starting from 21 April 2013, with the ban suspended during the same period.
The Executive Committee of the ICU discussed the Disciplinary Committees report at their meeting of 25 August, and agreed on the following statement:
Since the Disciplinary Committee is independent we cannot alter its decision, but the ICU Executive want to state that we regard this sanction as excessively lenient, and will put steps in place to ensure more appropriate sanctions in future. When FIDE introduce guidelines on such matters, the ICU will ensure that its procedures are in full accordance with them".