Ingmar De Vos to run unopposed for third term as FEI President

FEI President Ingmar De Vos is set to be re-elected for a third and final four-year term after being confirmed as the sole candidate for the Presidential election that will take place during the FEI General Assembly in Cape Town (RSA) on 13 November 2022.

“Since being elected FEI President, I have been fortunate and extremely grateful to have many National Federations, friends and the staff at FEI Headquarters support me in my work, and show unwavering commitment to the continued development of our sport and organisation,” Ingmar De Vos said.

“Remaining relevant as a sport, further expanding our fan base by attracting new and young athletes and maintaining our place in the Olympic and Paralympic movements remain our priorities for the future and we will only achieve all this if we continue working together with these common goals in mind.”

The 58-year-old Belgian native took up the post of FEI President in 2014 after receiving an overwhelming majority in the first round of voting, earning 98 votes out of a possible 131, at the FEI General Assembly in Baku (AZE). Four years later at the FEI General Assembly in Manama (BRN), Ingmar De Vos was standing unopposed and received unanimous support for a second term.

During his Presidency, De Vos has overseen changes to the Olympic and Paralympic formats as well as a major overhaul of the FEI Rules and Regulations governing the discipline of Endurance. In his second mandate, he guided the FEI through the Covid-19 pandemic and the outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) that resulted in an FEI-imposed six-week shutdown of international equestrian sport. He has been instrumental to the organisational growth of the FEI, in particular the recent creation of the International Grooms Association (IGA).

The 13^th FEI President since the Federation was founded in 1921, Ingmar De Vos became the first male to head the organisation after a 28-year run of consecutive female Presidents when he was elected in 2014. Over his career De Vos has gained recognition for his skills as a sports administrator and for being a gender equality advocate.  

De Vos is only the fourth FEI President to be elected an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member, a position he has held since September 2017, and is currently on the IOC Legal Affairs, Women in Sport and the Los Angeles 2028 Coordination Commissions. He also served in the past as a member of the IOC Digital and Technology Commission.

In March 2017, he became a UN International Gender Champion (IGC), joining a leadership network that brings together female and male decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence.

He is currently a Council member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). He is also a member of the Executive Committees of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and SportAccord.

More about Ingmar De Vos: https://inside.fei.org/about/president

Ingmar De Vos was born on 5 August 1963. He holds degrees in political science, and international and European law, and started his career as an advisor to the Belgian Senate. He joined the Belgian Equestrian Federation as managing director in 1990, and held the additional role of Secretary General from 1997 to 2011.

During his time at the Belgian National Federation, Ingmar De Vos was chef de mission for the Belgian team at all six FEI World Equestrian Games™ between 1990 and 2010 and at three Olympic Games – Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. He is a member of the Belgian Olympic Academy. He was co-founder of the European Equestrian Federation (EEF) in 2010 and was also Secretary General from 2010 until 2011, when he joined the FEI.

After three years as FEI Secretary General, Ingmar De Vos was elected as FEI President in December 2014 and re-elected in November 2018.

About 2022 wider elections

The FEI will announce the candidates for the Athlete Representatives on 9 May. The remaining positions to be elected and appointed during the FEI General Assembly 2022 will be announced in June following the Nominations Committee meeting. All information can be found here.