Andrew Nicholson and Avebury at Badminton (photo by Jenni Autry)
The FEI has put forth a new proposal for a rule change for national level competitions that could very well have some repercussions for several nations. Under current FEI rules, a national event (CN) which has more than 15 foreign athletes or more than four National Federations (NFs) is considered to be an international event (CI). However, such an event is not entered into the FEI calendar and results do not count for qualification purposes, but it still requires the necessary extra fees associated with a CI.
Two changes to this rule have been suggested this past week at the FEI Bureau meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
- CNs with more than four NFs or 15 foreign athletes are prohibited and cannot be allowed by an NF
- If a CN takes place under such conditions, no ranking or qualification points will be earned and the NF can be fined up to an amount equivalent to the total prize-money paid out at such competition.
Lisa Lazarus, FEI General Counsel, said: “The FEI is aware that some national events could reach the limit with regards to numbers of foreign athletes and National Federations. The FEI Bureau examined a number of proposals for modifications to the FEI General Regulations, and each of these proposals will be reviewed by the National Federations.”
While these changes may not especially affect US competitions, due to the fact that our events are largely populated by American riders, it does change things for countries such as England, where many foreign riders are based and compete full time. England is full of riders from New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the US, and would likely be affected the most by this proposed rule change.
