The 2015 FEI General Assembly in session. Photo courtesy of FEI.
The most crucial decision being voted on at this week’s FEI General Assembly session in Tokyo is a proposal to limit Olympic teams to three athletes. Presently teams are allowed four members with one drop score.
If passed, the format change would go to the IOC Executive Board in February 2017 and be implemented in advance of the 2020 Olympic Games in Toyko. It would apply to all three Olympic disciplines as well as Paralympic dressage.
Final debates for and against the proposal took place today, with a vote to be held this evening.
The proposal is the result of a two-year consultation process seeking ways to increase equestrian sports’ universality, one of the requirements under Olympic Agenda 2020.
Ulf Helgstrand, President of the Danish National Federation, spoke in support of the proposal.
“We want excitement and more flags, and we have to make our sport more understandable,” he said. “Which other sport can have a medal with an athlete that’s been disqualified? We will have much more excitement if one of the top countries or riders fails. This will give us more excitement and more flags.”
German National Federation Secretary General Soenke Lauterbach was among the proposal’s detractors.
“We understand the desire to get more universality in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but it has to be balanced with the core principles of our sport, that we have top athletes, top level sport and in line with horse welfare requirements,” he said. “We do not feel that with three per team we have the right balance of these three principles and that is why we will vote against, but we will accept and work with whatever decision is made.”
A total of 107 National Federations will vote on the proposal at the Assembly or by proxy.
FEI President Ingmar De Vos spoke at the conclusion of today’s session.
“We are a sport with 134 National Federations, and it’s correct that not all of them compete at elite level, but the development our sport has seen over the last decades as well as the recommendations of Olympic Agenda 2020 oblige us to focus on an increase in the number of participating nations within the existing quota,” he said.
“It is of course our role to get more National Federations to compete at the top level and to offer them an avenue for development. The decision is now in the hands of our National Federations and whatever way the vote goes, we will make it a success.”
The entire Assembly session will be lived streamed via FEI TV from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. EST.
[FEI General Assembly 2016: Final Debate Before Landmark Olympic Vote in Toyko]
Ingmar De Vos addresses the FEI General Assembly. Photo courtesy of FEI.
In addition to the format change proposal, a number of eventing-specific actions were taken at the Assembly, as summarized below:
- Lars Christensson (SWE) was appointed as a member of the FEI Eventing Committee, replacing outgoing member Rűdiger Schwarz (GER).
- The FEI Bureau was presented with the Eventing Committee proposal to set WEG cross country at the same level as for the Olympics to ensure that all athletes and horses qualify at the same level as the Championship.
- The FEI Bureau was updated on the Eventing Risk Management Steering Group, which has been set up to look at ways to minimize risk factors in the sport. The Group will produce a list of recommendations for the FEI Eventing Committee by the end of February 2017.
- The FEI Bureau approved rule changes for the following series:
- FEI Classics 2016/2017: winning athlete must be present at the prize giving ceremony which takes place at the final event of the series in order to be awarded the prize money.
- FEI Nations Cup 2017: further to the additional events included in the series, the best eight results of the 10 legs in the series will be taken into account.
- Event Rider Masters 2017: allocation of wild cards per event in the series to Olympic gold medal winner or world champion during the last 10 years and, if not used, these wild cards will be utilized for developing nations; two further wild cards could also be distributed at the discretion of the Organizing Committee; all combinations must have achieved the necessary qualification requirements.
- Tri Star Eventing Grand Slam 2017: as one less event will be organized in 2017, the £50,000 prize money will be awarded to the athlete winning three out of four events (instead of three out of five events in 2016).
- Africa Eventing Cup 2017: at least one official should be appointed by the FEI Solidarity program to ensure a set standard across the events in the series.
