Session 1: Qualification Systems for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Monday, 31 March, 9.30 - 11:00

Before opening the discussion on the Qualification Systems for Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, and Para Dressage at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, FEI President Ingmar De Vos provided an update on the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026
The FEI President confirmed that the Equestrian events at Dakar 2026 will be staged at the Mounted Police of Senegal facilities, which are currently under construction. With quota reductions across all sports, the quota allocated to equestrian sport will be 24 athletes. International Olympic Committee medals will be awarded for individual competitions, and the FEI will present separate team medals. The IOC has set an age limit for all sports based on the UN definition of youth, and the FEI has declined a proposal for gender parity, as athletes all have an equal opportunity to qualify and selection will be based on results not gender, in line with the core values of equestrian sport. The qualification process is still under discussion. The FEI has proposed maintaining the current system, while the IOC is advocating for an invitation-based model. The FEI is confident a good solution will be found and the qualification system will be published on Inside.FEI.org soon.

Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The FEI President highlighted the recent announcement made by the Organising Committee for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games of Toowoomba as the equestrian venue. This has not yet been finalised and the FEI will conduct a venue review in May, ahead of the IOC Coordination Commission visit, with a key focus on ensuring that biosecurity and horse transportation measures do not hinder equine travel to the Games.

The President took the opportunity to thank warmly the Organising Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the host nation France for the great success of the equestrian events and the unique backdrop provided by the Château de Versailles. Equestrian has consolidated its place in the Olympic programme with a 38% of growth in overall viewership and an impressive +55% increase in viewership for the team competitions across all disciplines. The highest viewership figures overall had been for Dressage.

The President clarified that the events and quotas across all sports for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games would be confirmed after the IOC Executive Board meeting on 9 April. The venue for the equestrian events will also be confirmed then, as the Venue Master plan will have been finalised. While final details are still to be determined, there is an agreement to apply the quotas used for Paris 2024 to the proposed LA28 Qualification Systems.

An update from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is expected in May.

Qualification Systems for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games
FEI Deputy Legal Director Áine Power then took participants through the proposed qualification framework for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympics Games, covering quotas, qualification events, allocation of quotas, reallocation of quotas, Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs) FEI Olympic Groups and qualification timelines. She clarified that the Olympic Regulations which deals with topics such as competition formats, horse ownership, substitutions will be discussed next year as part of the 2026 rule revision process.

The Olympic and Paralympic qualification period (team and individual) will start at next year’s FEI World Championships in Aachen (GER) and will run through to 31 December 2027. Potential Olympic horse and athlete combinations have from 1 January 2027 to 11 June 2028 to earn their MERs. The period to earn MERs for the Paralympic Games runs from 1 January 2026 to 11 July 2028.

A noteworthy new proposal concerns team qualification across the three disciplines in the event the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Certificate of Capability is not submitted or the Team Quota Allocation is withdrawn or not confirmed. The proposal is to no longer automatically allocate that NOC  an Individual Quota Place, and the NOC must earn an Individual Quota Place via the Olympic Rankings/Qualification Event (if applicable) instead. This proposal was welcomed by the participants.

FEI Eventing Director Frédérique Reffet Plantier, Jumping Director Todd Hinde, and Dressage and Para Dressage Director Ronan Murphy each presented proposed changes to their respective disciplines. Key elements highlighted during the session were the proposed alteration of the minimum age for Eventing horses to nine years (from eight) and in Jumping, seven quota places (two more than for Paris 2024) from the FEI Jumping World Championships 2026 and no quota places from the Longines League of Nations™ Finals 2026 and 2027. This proposal is being made to ensure equal opportunities for all and give nations outside of Europe more chances  to use this pathway.

There are no proposed changes for Dressage. For Para Dressage, the proposal is an increase in the Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs) to two scores of 64% or above at two different CPEDI3* events (or higher).

The proposed period for achieving the MERs will be between 1 January 2026 to 11 July 2028.

There was an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss the proposals and provide feedback from the floor after each discipline presentation. Questions concerned the timeline for the start of the qualification events, the publication of the list of reserve individuals, and the allocation of qualifiers for the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ to venues outside of Europe.

The FEI Sports Forum is the first phase of the consultation process on the Qualifications Systems – which cover quotas, qualification events, reallocation procedures, minimum eligibility requirements (MERs), FEI Olympic Groups, and the qualification timeline. Following stakeholder input from the Sports Forum, drafts will be sent out to National Federations and Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) signatories in July in line with the FEI Rules Revision process. The final Qualification Systems for LA28 will voted on at the FEI General Assembly in Hong Kong in November this year, after which they will be submitted to the IOC for final approval.

The Olympic and Paralympic Regulations, covering competitions formats, horse ownership, pre-competition changes/substitutions, accreditations and Officials will be discussed at the FEI Sports Forum 2026, with a vote at the FEI General Assembly next year, prior to submission to the IOC and IPC for approval.