Club championship of the CIS countries.

You won't be going to a tournament that he organizes, but rather to socialize with good people, with whom you've been communicating virtually for so long. Maybe that makes a difference?

I believe that if, because of the organizer's personality, even one of the participants refuses to go, then that organizer should be disregarded. And here, more than one person is refusing to go solely because of Navukh.