Moscow (RUS) 16-19 November 2019

Dressage

The Chair of the FEI Dressage Committee Frank Kemperman provided his report to delegates on a very successful year in Dressage.

He reminded delegates that the FEI Board had approved minor amendments to the Rules for both the FEI Nations Cup™ and FEI World Cup™ series.

The General Assembly unanimously approved all modifications to the Dressage Rules.

All changes to the Dressage Rules can be viewed here in due course.

Para Dressage

The Chair of the Para Equestrian Committee Amanda Bond thanked delegates for approving changes to the FEI Statutes which allow Para Equestrian to have a seat at the top table on the FEI Board, demonstrating the FEI’s commitment to Para sport.

The General Assembly unanimously approved all modifications to the Para Dressage Rules and the FEI Para Classification Rules.

All changes to the Para Dressage Rules and the FEI Para Classification Rules can be viewed here in due course.

Eventing

Chair of the Eventing Committee, David O’Connor, updated delegates on activities within the discipline in 2019, including a very successful Pan-American Games in Lima, which will leave a valuable legacy for the sport in Peru and neighbouring countries.

He also highlighted the success of the Olympic format tests that had been held during the year in the build-up to Tokyo 2020.

The Chair spoke about the FEI Eventing Risk Management plan and the work that had been done that has resulted in a reduction in the number of horse falls. He also advised delegates of the Eventing summit that will be held at Aintree next year (January 24-26).

The General Assembly unanimously approved all modifications to the Eventing Rules.

The revised Eventing Rules can be viewed here in due course.

Driving & Para Driving

In the absence of the FEI Driving Committee Chair, Karoly Fugli, who was unable to attend the General Assembly, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez presented his report on the discipline activities over the past year.

The General Assembly unanimously approved all modifications to the Driving & Para Driving Rules.

The changes to the Driving & Para Driving Rules can be viewed here in due course.

Endurance

The new Endurance Rules have been voted in by an overwhelming majority and, as the FEI President announced that there were 94 votes in favour and 19 against, with no abstentions, there was great applause from the floor.

The FEI President had opened the vote on the proposed revisions to the Endurance Rules with a special thanks for the work done by the Endurance Temporary Committee. “It’s a very special day, not only for Endurance, but it’s also the birthday of Committee Chair Sarah Coombs, and I know what birthday present she would like today!”

Prior to the overall vote on the Endurance Rules, voting opened on four amendments supported by the Endurance Temporary Committee (ETC), followed by voting on four additional amendments proposed by National Federations during yesterday afternoon’s dedicated Endurance Rules session, and finally on the date of implementation. Votes were all taken by a show of hands and those that were approved were then included in the overall vote on the Endurance Rules.

The four amendments supported by the ETC: a correction to Article 832.3 on novice qualifications; revised wording of Article 802.4.2 regarding the distance for 3* Championships; amended text for Article 833.3 on consecutive requirements for the qualification procedure for CEI 2* and 3*; and the correction to wording in Article 836.1.2 (b) Qualification for 2* Senior Championships – were all passed with a large majority.

Of the amendments proposed by National Federations at yesterday’s Endurance Rules session, delegates approved the revision of Article 805.1 on minimum athlete weight for senior CEI 2*, which was amended from 75kg to 70kg, but the proposal to reduce the minimum athlete weight for Young Riders and Juniors from 60kg was not approved, so 60kg was maintained in the overall Rules. Article 838.3.3 on the exemption from the CEI 3* combination requirement for Athletes with Elite Status was approved, as was Article 836.1.2(b) regarding the proposal to reduce the number of combination rides required for 3* Championships from two to one.

A separate vote on the implementation date offered two options: full implementation of the Rules on 1 July 2020, or partial implementation on 1 January 2020 with certain provisions to be implemented on 1 July 2020 as determined by the FEI Board. This was a close vote, with 49 in favour of 1 July implementation and 55 against, meaning that the new Endurance Rules will be implemented on 1 January 2020 with a mandate from the General Assembly to the FEI Board to advise which provisions will need to be implemented at a later stage and on the final wording of the transitional provisions.

Vaulting

The Chair of the FEI Vaulting Committee, John Eccles, provided a wrap-up of the Vaulting season 2019, including the bid for Vaulting to become a sport at the Youth Olympic Games.

The General Assembly unanimously approved all modifications to the Vaulting Rules.

These changes can be viewed here in due course.

Reining

Sven Friesecke, Chair of the FEI Reining Committee, received extended applause when he thanked delegates profusely for their support of the discipline and for their commitment to keeping Reining in the FEI stable.

The formal Agreement with the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) will now be signed by the FEI following this morning’s vote to keep Reining as an FEI discipline, and the FEI will also reach out to the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) to agree terms for a cooperation. In order to ensure that the sport is moving forward in a sustainable way, Key Performance Indicators (KPI) have been in place for the next four years aimed at growing participation in the discipline.

Nominations Committee Report

Outgoing Chair of the Nominations Committee, Betty Wates (JAM), updated the FEI General Assembly on the activities of the Committee.

Elections

Election of Chairs

Marina Sechina (RUS), President of the National Federation of Russia, was elected Chair of FEI Regional Group EEA and now becomes an FEI Board member for the four-year term 2019-2023, replacing outgoing Group EEA Chair, Sadyr Mamytov (KGZ).

Sami Al Duhami (KSA) was elected as Chair of FEI Regional Group VII for the four-year term 2019-2023, replacing outgoing Chair, H.E. Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa (BRN).

Karoly Fugli (HUN) was re-elected as Chair of the FEI Driving Committee for the four-year term 2019-2023.

Vicki Glynn (NZL) was re-elected as a member of the Audit & Compliance Committee for the four-year term 2019-2023.

José Alfonso Rodríguez (MEX) was elected as Chair of the FEI Tribunal for the four-year term 2019-2023 to replace outgoing Chair, Henrik Arle (FIN).

FEI Tribunal Members

Following the FEI Board’s agreement at its in-person meeting in June 2019, the number of FEI Tribunal Members has been increased from five to seven.

The following members were elected to the FEI Tribunal by the General Assembly, and a draw was held to establish the terms for the members: Mohammed Al Saberi (UAE), 2019-2021; Constance Popineau (FRA), 2019-2023; Valérie Horyna (SUI), 2019-2022; Christopher Hodson (NZL), 2019-2021; Martin Gibbs (GBR), 2019-2023; Diane Pitts (USA), 2019-2022; Harveen Thauli (CAN), 2019-2023.

Nominations Committee Members

Members of the Nominations Committee were elected for the four-year term 2019-2023: Regional Group EEF, Nayla Stössel (SUI, re-elected) and Wiveka Lundh (SWE); Olga Kogan (RUS), Regional Group EEA; Paul Pereech (BER), Regional Group IV; Diego Vallejo (COL, f-elected), Regional Group V; Guillermo Lockhart (URU, re-elected), Regional Group VI Hussam Zummit (LBA, re-elected), Regional Group VII; Yuri Yagi (JPN), Regional Group VIII; and Jean-Michel Turlot (COD) Regional Group IX.

Deputy Group Chairs

The General Assembly elected the following Deputy Chairs of the Regional Groups for the period 2019 to 2023: Sadyr Mamytov (KGZ) for Regional Group EEA and Sultan Khalifa Al Yehyaee (UAE) for Regional Group VII.

Rocio Echeverri (CRC) was elected as Deputy Chair of Regional Group V for the period 2019–2021, the remainder of the term of the previous Group V Deputy Chair, Maribel Alonso (MEX), who has resigned.

Election of FEI Vice President

The FEI President offered a heartfelt thanks to outgoing Vice President, H.E. Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa (BRN), who also served as Chair of FEI Regional Group VII.

“It’s a bit sad for me that I have to say goodbye to my Vice President, Sheikh Khalid, as our Board Members only can do a maximum three terms in any capacity. I made him my Vice President and want to thank him for what he has done, the support he has given and the tremendous representation he has done for his region. With your incredible diplomatic skills, it’s no surprise that you have another very important role to fill as Ambassador for your country Bahrain in the UAE, and I hope we can count on you being an ambassador for equestrian sport and the FEI in the future.

“It is the privilege of the FEI President to propose a candidate for the Vice Presidency to the General Assembly, as it needs to be approved by you. It’s not easy but I think I have found a solution, as we need to make sure all regions are represented in the Executive Board. We are losing someone from a very important region which is Asia, so I am proposing someone who ticks all the boxes, he’s young, dynamic and has already been very instrumental in promoting our sport and trying to find solutions.

“I am happy to announce and ask your support for Jack Huang, Regional Group VIII Chair, to be elected as Vice President of the FEI. And I also consulted the Executive Board of the FEI as we have to work together and they unanimously supported my proposal.

Jack Huang was unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed by delegates, joining Mark Samuel (CAN) as FEI Vice President.

FEI Solidarity

FEI Director of Solidarity Jacqueline Braissant provided an overview of the FEI Solidarity Programme which has financed a total of 420 National Federation projects to date. The Solidarity Committee has approved 64 new National Federation projects for 2020.

She also gave an update on the FEI Course for National Federations, Secretary Generals and Administrators which this year welcomed 25 participants from 16 National Federations to the FEI Headquarters in Lausanne in October 2019.

Some other key Solidarity programme figures included the 48 courses and workshops that were delivered around the world through the FEI Coaches Education programme in 2019, which benefitted 640 coaches.

Reminder

The whole event is streamed live here and will be available to watch again afterwards.

We will be providing news updates here throughout the day, covering the presentations and all the decisions taken.

All documents relating to the Extraordinary General Assembly, the Ordinary General Assembly and all other information are available to view here.

Veterinary Matters

Dr Jenny Hall, Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee provided her report on the Committee’s work, providing a clarification on Hendra virus, confirming that there is no requirement for horses to be vaccinated against Hendra Virus to attend FEI Events and that the FEI Veterinary Department has unanimously agreed not to propose the introduction of mandatory Hendra vaccination. 

She also updated on a merged proposal on pony measuring for amendments to Chapter IX in the Veterinary Regulation, combining aspects of the first proposal sent to National Federations and stakeholders in July, including the three-year transition period, and aspects of the 22 October 2019 proposal including the Lifetime FEI Measurement Certificate for ponies that measured in during the past three years.

The General Assembly unanimously approved all modifications to the Veterinary Regulations.

The revised Veterinary Regulations can be viewed here in due course.

Clean Sport

FEI Veterinary Director Göran Akerström delivered a report on the Global Equine Anti-Doping Control Medication Programme (EADCMP) and outlined steps that will be needed to improve the programme worldwide, including encouraging all National Federations to have national testing programmes and a National Head Veterinarian in order to promote horse welfare and sustainable development of equestrian sport; ensuring the improvement of sample logistics that in some parts of the world are challenged by bureaucracy and biosecurity; increasing the level of testing carried out by the Veterinary Delegates at small events; and ensuring the access of testing kits to Veterinary Delegates.

Delegates were also shown a video on the FEI Hyposensitivity Control System which is currently being field-tested at Endurance events. The control system is designed to protect horses from injury by identifying those with lower limb hyposensitivity (lack of sensation) in order to stop them from competing in a ride. Further field tests will be conducted prior to implementation.

The General Assembly approved modifications to the Equine Anti-Doping & Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMR).

The Equine Anti-Doping & Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMRs) can be viewed here in due course.

Medical Committee Report

Outgoing Chair of the FEI Medical Committee Dr Peter Whitehead presented his report on the work of his Committee, reiterating the need for athletes to use only protective headgear in compliance with international testing standards. He also urged National Federations to inform their athletes about submitting their Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) applications.

Dr Whitehead, who was re-appointed as Chair at the General Assembly 2015 in Puerto Rico, also urged National Federations and athletes that will be competing to Tokyo for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to visit the FEI website for up-to-date information on healthy travel, acclimatization, coping with heat and humidity, and hydration, as well as tips on how to optimise performance in challenging climatic conditions.

After reflecting on the achievements of the Medical Committee over the past seven years, he urged that work continues, with an ongoing focus on education, increased standards of medical coverage of events and stronger partnerships between the FEI, ASOIF, WADA and the IOC.

Athletes’ Committee report

Chair of the FEI Athletes’ Committee Maria Gretzer provided delegates with a short overview of the work of the Committee over the past year.

She encouraged National Federations to create Athletes’ Committees within their own structures and to include athletes on their Boards.

A key element of the IOC 2020 Agenda, Athlete Commissions are an important way of making the voice of the athletes heard at the highest levels of decision-making, and while this is already in place within the FEI, it needs to be further expanded at national level.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic & Paralympic Games

Tokyo 2020 Equestrian Sport Manager Haruta Yasuhiko, Eventing Competition Manager Alec Lochore and Jumping Competition Manager Cesar Hirsch gave delegates a progress report on preparations for next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in the Japanese capital.

The Tokyo 2020 Test Event allowed the Tokyo Organising Committee and the FEI to trial heat countermeasures, crowd flow management, venue management logistics and work with professional footing advisors to ensure the best possible conditions for the Games next year.

Work on the venues is well on track at both the Equestrian Park at Baji Koen and the Sea Forest Cross Country, while the Final Holding Area and Final Warm-Up are both scheduled for delivery in January.

Alec Lochore informed the General Assembly that 3.9 million tickets had already been sold for the Games, and that there were almost 12 million applications when the first online ballot was launched.

Youth Olympic Games

Ibrahima Wade, President of the National Federation of Senegal and Dakar 2022 General Coordinator, together with NF Secretary General, Papa Seck, gave un update on preparations for the Dakar 2022 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The National Federation is working on a daily basis with the IOC and the FEI and preparations are going well, including infrastructure and the sport programme.

The FEI President assured the Senegal National Federation that they could count on the support of the FEI to deliver the best YOG in 2022.

FEI Championships, Series & Finals allocation

The General Assembly was updated on allocations of FEI Championships, Series and Finals by the FEI Board on 16 November.

IT update

FEI IT Business Analyst, Jerome Begey, gave an update on the FEI online invitation system. Following a number of pilot phases, a new version of the invitation system has been developed. The 2019 pilot phase showed clear improvements as more phases were allocated overall and athletes lower down were invited.

The FEI IT department will continue with the next steps towards full implementation of the system.

Commercial

FEI Commercial Director Ralph Straus provided an overview of the commercial and marketing strategy. He highlighted some key achievements since the strategy was introduced in 2017, including more than 200 million video views on the FEI’s digital channels in 2019.

Facebook saw a 47% increase in video views over the past year, earning the FEI the number one ranking among International Olympic Federations in terms of engagement. Instagram was one of the best performing channels, with InstaStories in particular driving strong engagement and an increase in follower numbers by 32%.

The FEI Digital Channels won a number of industry awards over 2019, including the Best App Award for the FEI/SAP Spectator Judging App at the Digital Communication Awards, the Golden Dolphin for Best Communication Marketing Video at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards and silver in the Best Digital Campaign sector at the European Association Awards.

The FEI also acquired three new sponsors since the beginning of 2019:  Horse Pilot (FEI equestrian apparel supplier), Cavalor (FEI Nutrition Partner and sponsor of the FEI Best Groom Award) and Peden Bloodstock (FEI Equine Logistics Partner and sponsor of the FEI Best Athlete Award).

In addition to being a Top Partner for the FEI and Title Partner for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ and the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League, Longines has renewed its title partnership for the North American League and the presenting partner for tonight’s FEI Awards Gala.

FEI Tribunal Activity Report

Outgoing Chair of the FEI Tribunal Henrik Arle spoke about the busy year for the FEI Tribunal outlining the provisional suspensions, hearings, preliminary decisions and agreements, as well as the Tribunal and CAS appeals and decisions taken during 2019. 

The Tribunal assumed new responsibilities in 2019 to ensure the practical implementation of the FEI Safeguarding policy that was developed and adopted to promote a safe environment for its members, athletes, support personnel, coaches, trainers, grooms, officials, volunteers and staff.

He wound up his presentation, and his term in office, by thanking the Tribunal members for their dedication to justice and their high work ethic.

Equestrian Community Integrity Unit (ECIU)

Lord Stevens, Executive Chairman of Quest which runs the independent Equestrian Community Integrity Unit (ECIU), was unable to attend the General Assembly in person, but provided his annual update on the work of the ECIU via video message.

Athlete welfare and safeguarding were two of the key topics addressed in his speech, and Lord Stevens highlighted the FEI’s Safeguarding Policy Against Harassment and Abuse, which came into effect in January of this year, describing it as testament of the commitment shown by the FEI.

“The FEI Safeguarding Policy against harassment and abuse and the establishment of the athlete protection at FEI Headquarters, along with the training that has been done for staff, has been another step of a long road creating a safe environment for all of those involved in equestrian sport”, he said.

Reflecting on the integrity issues that have so negatively impacted the world of sport in recent times and the resulting media coverage, he said: “Now it’s important more than ever to keep integrity at the heart of all we do, and you do.

With that in mind it makes it more important than ever that the FEI continue to lead the way in governance matters for other International Federations to follow. And this is what you do.

“This position of respect was established through the hard work of the FEI and the National Federations who are in the room today through a process that started over a decade ago. And I believe and others do that each and every one of you can feel proud of this and know that the other National Federations hold you all in the highest regard.”

FEI Sports Forum 2020

The FEI Sports Forum 2020 will be held in Lausanne (SUI) on 6-7 April 2020. The draft programme will be available shortly on the FEI Sports Forum hub.

The first day will include sessions on FEI Anti-Doping Rules for human and equine athletes, multi-disciplinary minimum requirements for FEI Events and their enforcement, and the status of grooms.

The second day will feature the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including a session from the coaching and veterinarian perspective on the road to Tokyo.

International Horse Sports Confederation

The FEI President Ingmar De Vos provided an overview of the International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC) and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) workshops on international horse movement. During 2019, IHSC-OIE Regional Workshops were organised in Hong Kong (FEI Group VIII) and Morocco (FEI Group VII). A workshop will be held in Moscow for FEI Group EEA in the week following the FEI General Assembly.

The FEI President also informed the General Assembly that the FEI will maintain its strong partnership with the OIE. A meeting between the FEI and OIE is scheduled to take place in Hong Kong early next year to look at ways of furthering biosecurity measures to ensure more efficiency in the movement of horse across borders in the Asia region. The services of the FEI liaison officer, currently employed by the OIE, will be retained.

This important partnership will help the work on continually improving biosecurity and sanitary measures to ensure more secure movement of horses.

World Horse Welfare

Roly Owers, Chief Executive of the equine charity World Horse Welfare, gave a powerful presentation on the commitment to the horse-human partnership and the ongoing challenges it faces.

World Horse Welfare “believe it is legitimate and morally right to involve horses in sport – so long as their welfare is put first, above all other considerations, commercial or competitive”, he said.

“Bad practice in horse sport has real consequences for us all: the welfare agenda is being hijacked by people who do not know enough about equestrian sports or simply disagree with people using animals for entertainment or competition.”

He talked about nosebands and bits, and the importance of bridle fit in preventing oral lesions. He advised delegates that Dr Rachel Murray, who made a presentation to the World Horse Welfare annual conference in London last week, will be working with the charity to produce practical guidelines on bridle fit.

“World Horse Welfare has long said that it is not the type of tack or aid that is the risk to horse welfare, but how it is used. A key aspect of the social licence is to challenge the status quo of all aspects of how we care and train or horses, especially in relation to the latest evidence. Just because we’ve always done it a certain way doesn’t make it right.

“We must recognise the growing relevance of social licence, and how it is about reality and perception. We need to constantly challenge ourselves and to keep on top of the latest research, and invest in more.  And above all we need to constantly explain to people and show them what we really mean by the horse-human partnership.”