Jumping Resolutions & Decisions

The Board agreed not to allow any additional Covid-19 Fees to be included by the Organisers in the Draft Schedules.

The FEI Board:

• Confirmed the allocation of the FEI Jumping European Championship 2021 on week 35 (from 30 August to 4 September) upon receipt of a firm confirmation from the Organiser of Riesenbeck (GER) that it is prepared to go ahead with the Championship (such confirmation to be reflected by the Organiser by signing the Host Agreement) by 31 January 2021 at the latest. The Host Agreement will specify that all team transport costs and quarantine costs (if any) from the country of origin to the venue will be borne by the NFs rather than the Organiser.
• Accepted that the FEI Jumping European Championships will be included in the 2021 FEI Calendar [pending approval] until receipt of the confirmation from the Organiser.
• Agreed, with the full support of the European Equestrian Federation, that, if Riesenbeck (GER) did not confirm the allocation by 31 January 2021 (by signing the Host Agreement) and on the understanding that the Olympic Games did go ahead in 2021, it would not re-open the bid process for the FEI Jumping European Championship 2021. The EEF agrees not to re-open the bid process if Riesenbeck (GER) does not sign the Host Agreement by the deadline and the Olympic Games are taking place in 2021.
• Confirmed that the Organiser could share this Board Resolution with potential sponsors, host broadcasters and other partners.
• Agreed to follow the recommendation of the FEI Jumping Calendar Task Force and derogate, on an exceptional basis, from the below mentioned paragraph of Article 200.8 of the FEI Jumping Rules for the CSI 4*/5*Events in Europe who have entered dates in Week 34 of the 2021 Calendar by the required deadline (Brussels & Hamburg):
  “From the Monday of the week preceding and all days during the World and Continental Jumping Championships for Seniors it is forbidden to host an FEI World Cup™ Competition, a CSI4*, CSIO4*, CSI5* or a CSIO5* on the same Continent as the Championship.”

For the avoidance of doubt, this derogation would not apply to late date applications for Week 34.

The Board agreed with the recommendation of the FEI Jumping Committee to lift the temporary suspension of the CSI Invitation Rules for CSI2* events that had been in place since 7 April 2020 at the end of 2020. CSI2* events are to be re-included in the Invitation System as of 1 January 2021.

NB: As this is an Emergency Board Resolution, National Federations have until 21 November 2020 to signify their disapproval by sending an email to Francisco P. Lima, Director Governance & Institutional Affairs.

FEI European Championships Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage and Eventing 2021 for Seniors

The Board agreed to:

• Postpone the decision on the organisation of the FEI European Championships 2021 to its Teleconference on 20 October 2020 due to the ongoing discussions.
• Allow the FEI Jumping and Eventing Calendar Task Forces to discuss the possibility of organising the Jumping or Eventing European Championships 2021 during the dates of the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, if no better date could be found.

FEI Named Series 2021/22 – Allocation of Qualifiers

The Board agreed that all Organisers who were originally allocated a Qualifier by the Board would automatically be allocated a Qualifier for the 2021/2022 season (subject to signature of the Host Agreement) without any application or bid process (unless the Organiser informs the FEI that they do not want to host a Qualifier for the 2021/2022 season):

• FEI Dressage World Cup™ – Western European League 2021/2022
• FEI Driving World Cup™ 2021/2022
• FEI Jumping Ponies’ Trophy 2021
• FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ 2021

In cases where the National Federations “rotate” the qualifier each year between different Organisers in their country, it would be left up to the relevant National Federation to inform the FEI which Organiser would hold the Qualifier in 2021/22.

This Resolution would not apply to Organisers who were allocated Qualifiers to replace 2020/21 Qualifiers that were cancelled.

If applications are received from new Organisers to host 2021/2022 Qualifiers (i.e. from Organisers who were not originally part of the 2020/21 season) such applications would be reviewed on a case by case basis, by the relevant Technical Committee, with regards to the quality of the Event and compatibility with the Series calendar, before being proposed to the Board for allocation.

As the Qualifiers for the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth 2021 have also already been allocated (at a previous Board Teleconference) but the 2021 Final has not, the FEI would open a “light” bidding process for applications to host the Final.

FEI Jumping World Cup™

• Qualifications for the 2021 Final: Covid-19 By-Laws
  The Board approved the Covid-19 By-Laws of the FEI Jumping World Cup™, Qualifications for the 2021 Final. These are available here.
• Modification to Arab League Rules 2020/2021
  The Board approved the Modification to the FEI Jumping World Cup™ Rules 2020/2021 Arab League. These are available here.

FEI Jumping World Challenge Rules 2020: Covid-19 related modifications

The Board agreed to waive the requirement for a Foreign Judge for Competition 3 Category A and allow the President of the Ground Jury, who may be from the host country, to act as Foreign Judge, providing they have at least FEI Level 2 status. If the host National Federation has no Level 2 or higher Judges, a Foreign Judge minimum Level 2 must be appointed.

FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth Final 2020

The Board approved the modification to Article 11.5 of the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth Rules 2020 according to which, in the Final 2020, a maximum of two individual Athletes per National Federation represented by a team for each category with two Horses/Ponies per Athlete may be invited in addition to the team members.

FEI Jumping Ponies Trophy 2020 – Replacement Qualifier(s)

The Board agreed to give a mandate to FEI Headquarters to allocate the replacement qualifier(s) for the FEI Jumping Ponies' Trophy 2020, once it has received responses from the applicants - Salzburg (AUT) and Opglabeek (BEL) - on some open questions.

Youth Equestrian Competition 2022

In light of the postponement of the Youth Olympic Games 2022 to 2026, the Board agreed to open a bid process for the organisation of a Youth Jumping Equestrian Competition 2022 with the same format as the Youth Olympic Games.

The FEI Board mandated the FEI Headquarters to reallocate the Wellington Qualifiers of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ (2021) and Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™, North American League (2020/21 – 2022/23), in close consultation with USEF, the FEI Jumping Committee and the Regional Group Chair.

Following the cancellation of one of the three qualifiers for the 2020 FEI Jumping Ponies’ Trophy, the FEI Board agreed to authorise the FEI Headquarters to open a “light” bid process for the 2020 FEI Jumping Ponies’ Trophy to replace the cancelled qualifier.

In addition, the Board authorises the FEI Headquarters to open future bid processes should any of the existing qualifiers be cancelled.

The Board approved the Covid-19 By-Laws for the FEI Jumping World Cup™ Rules 2020-2021 which can be found here.

The Board agreed the possibility, on a case by case basis, for a CSI-W in Western Europe to have the status of a CSI4* Event (only for the 2020/2021 season) in terms of Prize Money and subject to the following conditions: 
•    The overall quality of the Event must be maintained at 5* level.

•    The Host Agreement must be respected.

•    There should be a minimum Prize Money guaranteed for both the World Cup and the Grand Prix.
The full Article (650.2) referencing the conditions can be found here.

The Board approved modifications to the FEI Jumping World Cup™ Rules 2020-2021. The updated Rules can be found here.

The Board approved modifications to the FEI Jumping European Youngster Cup U25 Rules 2020. The updated Rules can be found here.  

The Board agreed OCs of CSI1*/CSI2*/CSIYH1*/CSIYH2*/CSIV/CSIP/CSIAm/U25/Y/ J/Ch Cat. A and B events will be permitted to increase the quota of athletes after the definite entry date ONLY if, having reached the maximum number of athletes entered, the maximum number of horses that may be entered (based on the number of horses each athlete may enter) has not been reached as of the definite entry date. No other interpretation or application of this principle will be accepted by the FEI. The total number of athletes entered may not exceed the number of athletes allowed to take part in the Grand Prix, unless the Schedule already includes a qualification system for the Grand Prix.

Note this is an Emergency Board Resolution to GRs 116.3.2 and JRs Art. 251.9.2 which state with regard to definite entries that “These represent the final selection of Athletes and Horses that will travel to the Event.”

No NFs signified disapproval by the deadline of 21 August 2020. The FEI Board Resolution is therefore final.

Following several communications from National Federations and prior to the Board videoconference of 21 July, the Jumping Committee was requested by the FEI Board to re-evaluate their position on the Board Resolution from 23-25 June (see below) regarding the cancellation of the FEI Jumping European Championships for Children, Juniors, Young Riders and Ponies 2020. The FEI Jumping Committee reconfirmed their position based on the criteria originally presented and as explained in the Board Resolution of 23-25 June 2020: “due to concerns that athletes and horses will not have had the opportunity to prepare fully for these important Championships and to avoid any risk to athletes and horses.” 

They also noted that to organise Championships over a short period of time (end August) with Athletes, their entourage, Officials, Organisers and Suppliers could easily reach over 1,000 attendees would also pose an unacceptable risk to all those attending and participating.

In light of all of the above, and the premise that the Youth European Championships must take place during the school holidays as stipulated in the Rules, the Jumping Committee and the FEI Board maintained their initial position that the FEI Jumping European Championships for Youth would not proceed in 2020.

The FEI Board decided to provide the Bids/Expressions of Interest received through the EEF for these Championships to the relevant Technical Committees and Calendar Task Forces to understand if they want the FEI Board to reconsider its previous decision to cancel these Championships.

FEI World Cup™ hosting fee

The Executive Board agreed that the FEI Headquarters could waive the hosting fee for FEI World Cup™ Qualifiers on a case by case basis and based on a valid reason from the Organiser.

The Board approved changes in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Rules 2020 to allow for a potential Final of the Series in 2020, namely:

• That the qualifier that took place in North America (Wellington) and the qualifiers eventually still taking place in North America and Europe Division 1 will not serve as qualification for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2020. Consequently, the Board agreed to allow the 3 teams from North America and the 10 teams from Europe Division 1 to qualify directly for the Final.
• To have a maximum of 22 teams in the Final.
• That the Season 2021 Division 1 will start with the same 10 teams, as the launch of the Longines EEF Series has been postponed until 2021 and there will be no promotion and relegation in 2020.

The Board agreed to prioritise all CSIOs when date clashes are being considered, regardless of whether they are standalone Events or part of a Series, to allow for team preparation in the build-up to the Olympic Games next year.

The Covid-19 outbreak has led to the cancellation or postponement of numerous international events in various regions of the world as of March 2020 and it is still uncertain when the sport will resume at a normal pace. To mitigate the impact this will have on the Longines Rankings and FEI Rankings, until the situation is stabilised the Board has approved two Mitigation Policies: the Longines Rankings and the FEI Rankings.

The Executive Board agreed to reimburse the hosting fee to the Organiser of the FEI World Cup™ Finals Jumping and Dressage 2020 due to the cancellation of the Event because of Covid-19.