EUROPEAN EQUESTRIAN FEDERATION GENERAL ASSEMBLY

In October, the European Equestrian Federation (EEF) held its Board and its General Assembly in Birmingham, guest of the British Equestrian Federation.

The meeting was attended by 50% of the National Federation Presidents and Secretaries and by the Equestrian International Federation (FEI) President’s Mr Ingmar De Vos.

He was the FEI President himself who opened the EEF General Assembly talking about many topics that the FEI had to face during the last months: the Rio’s Olympic Games organization; the eventuality to change the Team format at next Olympic; the importance and the effects of the media campaign; the Global Champion League discussion; the Balkan Championship and the location for the 2018 World Equestrian Games which is almost found but still in negotiation.

Regarding the possibility to change the Olympic Format the decision will be taken in Tokyo during the FEI General Assemby, and then it will be sent to be approved to the International Olympic Committee and then the FEI will decide the distribution of the quota among the disciplines and this decision will be brought at the FEI General Assembly in Montevideo in 2017 to become final.

Regarding the Global Champion League, at the moment it is still an unsanctioned event which is not approved by the FEI said  the FEI President. No athlete or horse can be suspended or sanctioned because of their participation at this kind of competition, but the FEI judges are not allowed to judge these events.

The European Commision has to decide the role of the FEI because if everybody can organize a competition with its own rules then why the FEI should exist to guarantee that all events are organized in respect of laws and rules that preserve the health of horses.

Regarding the Nation Cup’s rules, there will not be any change next year, but probably something will happen in 2018.

After the FEI President’s speech, many other themes were discussed like:  the dressage’s scores: the hypothesis to consider only the points between the higher and lower marks for each movements, a kind of drop off not for one rider but for each movement and the challenge to stimulate young people in the sport as anticipated;

Regarding these last item, as underlined by the Director of the International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC)  Mrs Eleonora Ottaviani, after the "young riders classes" (that last from 18 till 21 years old), the coming up riders are a bit lost.

It is difficult for them to enter in  in the good 3*  and 4* or 5* competitions, the item of pay card is in these cases a real big problem.

She ask to support the U25 classes and to introduce the U25 CSIO.

The President Ingmar De Vos said that the FEI is already analyzing some proposals to support the U25 riders with a dedicated working group.

To conclude the Assembly, there was the voting to confirm for the next 4 years, some of the EEF Board members as follow: Hanfried Haring has been re-elected as President for the term 2016-2020, Armagan Özgörkey and Ulf Helgstrand have been re-elected as Vice-President for the term 2016-2020; Eleonora Ottaviani has been re-elected as Board Members and athlete representative for the term 2016-2020; they will join the other EEF members: Andrew Finding, Theo Ploegmakers, George Dimaras and Nayla Stoessel.

Furthermore, Bo Helander has been voted as Chairperson of the EEF EU-Committee, while the new Secretary General Carina Mayer was already appointed few days before the meeting.