From left, Pierre Durand, John McEwen, Ingmar De Vos, Pierre Genecand and Ulf Helgstrand in today's Meet the Presidential Candidates session in Baku. Photo by Liz Gregg/FEI.
The 14th FEI president will be elected tomorrow at the FEI General Assembly, which is currently underway in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. We’ve put together a primer to answer your most burning questions about the election, candidates and what’s next for the FEI. Here we go:
Where the hell is Azerbaijan?
We’re so glad you asked. Azerbaijan is a country bordered by Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Russia. The capitol, Baku, is slated to host the very first European Games next year; equestrian is not included in these Games as a sport. Why exactly is the FEI General Assembly being held in Azerbaijan? Your guess is as good as ours.
Let’s play Where’s Azerbaijan!
Who are the candidates?
The candidates are Pierre Genecand, Ulf Helgstrand, John McEwen, Pierre Durand, Ingmar De Vos and our very own Chinch. Click here to read their full bios.
What kind of tomfoolery has been going down in the election?
Another excellent question. Friend of EN Pippa Cuckson has extensively chronicled the hot mess over on Horse-Canada.com. You should read these two posts before tomorrow’s election: How to Make Up a Presidential Campaign as You Go Along and I Wanna Hold Your Hand…
What are the candidates’ platforms?
The candidates participated in a Q&A session today in which they all reportedly expressed support for:
- global development of the sport
- protecting the heritage of the sport
- the link between sponsorship and media and the importance of increased media coverage
- strengthening equestrian sport’s position in the Olympic Movement
- horse welfare
- integrity and good governance
- unity amongst the FEI family
Here’s another good bit of light reading on the topic of integrity and good governance within the FEI.
When is the election?
The election process will stream live starting at midnight EST tonight on FEI TV, as Azerbaijan Standard Time is 9 hours ahead of us. You don’t need an FEI TV subscription to watch, as the proceedings will be streamed for free.
Stay tuned as we follow along with the FEI presidential election. #buckleup
