Sergey Karjakin could go ahead with a civil court case against his FIDE ban ©Getty Images

Russian chess player Sergey Karjakin is looking to file a civil case in appeal against the International Chess Federation's (FIDE) decision to ban him from international competition for publicly supporting the war in Ukraine.

This is contrary to claims made by his manager last month, who said he would not be appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

According to Russian state news agency TASS, Karjakin stated he would look to file an appeal after the Russian Chess Federation refused to do so.

"The Russian Chess Federation was going to file a lawsuit, but at the last moment I found out that they refused," said Karjakin to reporters.

"Because of this, a lot of important time was lost.

"I hope that I will file a civil court [case]."

Sergey Karjakin missed the FIDE Candidates Tournament due to his ban ©Getty Images
Sergey Karjakin missed the FIDE Candidates Tournament due to his ban ©Getty Images

Karjakin published an open letter on February 27 in support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called a "special military operation".

The following day, the International Olympic Committee recommended the suspension of athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus for their involvement in the conflict.

On March 21, the FIDE Commission on Ethics and Discipline suspended Karjakin from its competitions for six months for the open letter.

The Russian Chess Federation sent an appeal against his suspension to FIDE on April 6, but this was rejected, meaning he missed the Candidates Tournament in Madrid.