FEI hosts International Jumping Riders Club for meeting at HQ

Representatives from the International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC) met with the FEI President and 1^st Vice President in Lausanne (SUI) today for a formal discussion on discipline specific matters that have generated considerable media coverage recently.

FEI President Ingmar De Vos and 1^st Vice President John Madden, who also chairs the FEI Jumping Committee, welcomed IJRC Board members Steve Guerdat, Kevin Staut and Francois Mathy jnr, IJRC Director Eleonora Ottaviani and Swiss Jumping athlete Clarissa Crotta to FEI Headquarters. The FEI was also represented by Maria Gretzer, FEI Executive Board Member and Chair of the FEI Athletes’ Committee, FEI Jumping Director John Roche, and Mikael Rentsch, Legal Director.

Topics on today’s agenda included the proposal from the Alliance of Jumping Organisers to harmonise entry fees globally, which will be tabled for discussion at next month’s FEI Sports Forum. The FEI President, who has already publicly stated that he does not support this AJO proposal, clarified that the FEI has not taken any position on this matter and welcomes an open discussion on all aspects of the CSI/CSIO requirements. The Global Champions League, which is now an FEI approved series and fully aligned with the FEI Jumping Rules, was also on the agenda for discussion.

Blood disqualifications, the risk of contamination during events and the resulting potential for adverse analytical findings, the FEI World Equestrian Games™, the athletes’ representative voting system, the criteria for National Federations to join the FEI, the ranking system, and the FEI Nations Cup™ were also discussed in full. The future of the FEI Nations Cup™ will be the focus of a session on the first day of the Sports Forum, which will be held in Lausanne on 10 and 11 April.

“This was a much-needed meeting with the IJRC as there was a lot that needed to be clarified”, the FEI President said after the meeting. “Both parties had the opportunity to express their points of view and we had some very constructive dialogue.

“We are constantly striving to further improve our communications outreach and the consultation process with all our stakeholders and today’s meeting with the IJRC was really beneficial, as it gave everyone the opportunity to discuss current issues. The IJRC is an important stakeholder group and it was good to take on board their views."

The meeting came at the invitation of FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez, who proposed during the Club’s General Assembly in Geneva (SUI) last December that the IJRC should send a delegation to FEI Headquarters early in 2017.