More than 350 participants took part in the 2006 FEI General Assembly hosted by the Equestrian Association of Malaysia. In connection with the General Assembly, both the Bureau and the Executive Board met twice.
A total of 30 different meetings took place throughout the week which culminated with the election of the new FEI President. On 1 May, the General Assembly elected HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan as the 13th FEI President. The other contenders for the position were HRH Princess Benedikte of Denmark and Freddy Serpieri (GRE).
“I promise to do everything in my power and to work tirelessly to serve the institution and the people who have done me the honour of placing their trust and belief in me. Our beautiful, noble sport is seeped in tradition, history and grace. I will do all I can to protect and advance it, in all its forms,” HRH Princess Haya said.
HRH the Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón was elected Honorary President by acclamation. Much has been achieved during the 12 years of the presidency of Doña Pilar de Borbón. The number of international equestrian events has grown from 500 in 1994 to almost 1800 in 2005. There were 39 nations competing in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games compared to 25 in Atlanta in 1996. The sport has developed tremendously, but most importantly, the FEI has become an open organisation all the constituents of which communicate with each other, mainly thanks to the open and positive approach of the Spanish President.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2006
A record number of delegates representing 123 National Federations (NFs) (102 present, 21 by proxy) attended the General Assembly.
HRH The Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón was presiding her last FEI General Assembly. She praised the hard work and cooperative spirit among the NFs, the Riders, the Organisers, the FEI Bureau Members and officials, the FEI Secretariat staff in Lausanne, the sponsors and the many associations working in partnership with the FEI. She also emphasised the efforts in the field of development.
AFFILIATIONS
Iraq National Federation (IRQ) was re-affiliated as full member in Geographical Group VII.
Madagascar National Federation (MAD) was affiliated as full Member in Geographical IX.
REGIONAL GROUPS
The request from the NF of Bulgaria to join Group I in order to be together with the other Balkan countries was accepted.
FINANCE
The Treasurer reported on the 2005 results and the extraordinary expenses that occurred in 2005. The 2005 Accounts and the Auditors’ Report were approved.
The Financial Charges for 2007 were approved. They include an increase in passports fees and organising dues, as already approved at the 2004 General Assembly. The Annual Subscriptions for 2007, unchanged from 2006,.were approved as well.
The operating forecast for 2006 and the operating budget for 2007 were approved.
ELECTIONS
In to the election of HRH Princess Haya as FEI President for a term of four years, the following elections took place:
Sven Holmberg (SWE) was elected as 1st Vice President.
Chris Hodson (NZL) was elected as 2nd vice President, replacing Leopoldo Palacios (VEN) who was warmly thanked for his untiring efforts for the sport in Latin America and his precious advisory work with the organising committees of the most important events of the FEI, including the Olympic Games. Leopoldo Palacios was made FEI Honorary Vice President.
John C McEwen (GBR) was elected as Chairman of the FEI Veterinary Committee succeeding Prof Leo Jeffcott. Prof Jeffcott, was made Honorary Bureau Member and praised for his tremendous contribution to equestrian sport and the veterinary organisation at many Olympic Games.
Cesare Croce (ITA) was elected as Chairman of Group I, replacing Freddy Serpieri, who was made Honorary Vice President and who was praised for his outstanding work in the development of equestrian sport outside of the mainstream.
Hanfried Haring (GER) was elected as Chairman of Group II replacing Frank Schreve (NED).
Pablo Mayorga (ARG) was re-elected for a new term of four years as Chairman of Group VI
Alain Guillet (SUI) was elected as Member of the Finance Committee replacing Howard B. Simpson (USA).
Patrick A. Boelens (BEL) was elected as Member of the Judicial Committee replacing deceased Felipe Amodeo (BRA) for a three-year term.
APPOINTMENTS
Frank Costantini (USA) was appointed for a second term as Chairman of the Reining Committee.
Dietmar Otto (GER) will be the Acting Chairman of the Vaulting Committee in 2006 and the position will be re-opened in 2007 for a shortened term of 3 years.
Ferdi Wassermeyer (GER) was appointed for a second term as Chairman of the Pony Riders Committee.
Jonquil Solt (GBR) was appointed to become the Chairman of the newly created Para-Equestrian Committee. The new committee is composed of Hanneke Gerritsen (NED) for a two-year term neding in 2008, Hope C. Hand (USA) until 2009, Mary L. Longden (AUS) and Ulf Wilken until 2010.
Dieter Schüle (GER) replaces Stephen Clark (GBR) in the Dressage Committee.
Frank Kemperman (NED) replaces Tom Gordin (FIN) as Organisers’ representative in the Jumping Committee.
Mr Andrew Griffiths (GBR) succeeds Michael Etherington-Smith (GBR) and Tom Ryckewaert (BEL) replaces Jean-Michel Foucher (FRA) as Organisers and Riders’ representative in the Eventing Committee. Michael Etherington-Smith is co-opted member for one year.
Mieke van Tergouw (NED) succeeds Tomas Eriksson (SWE) as Driver’s representative in the Driving Committee.
Ruth Carlson (CAN) and Paulo Branco (POR) replace Dane Frazier (USA) adn Ramón Lopez Lax (ESP) respectively in the Endurance Committee. Elizabeth Van Schelle is appointed for two years in replacement of Pierre Cazes (FRA) who tragically died last year.
Aleardo A Giraurdini (ITA) replaces Antonio Mastrangelo (ITA) in the Reining Department. Raymond Grether (NED) replaces resigning Alain Cabrix (FRA) for a shortened term of three years in the same Committee.
Pavla Juhaszova (SVK) and Frank Spadinger (AUT) replace Erich Breiter (AUT) and Tamas Tarpataki (HUN) respectively in the Vaulting Committee.
Christian Sottas (SUI) replaces Margareta Wetterberg (SWE) at the Pony Riders Committee.
Lars Meyer zu Bexten (GER) and Margarita van der Graaf (MEX) replace Ulrich Meyer zu Bexten (GER) and Lena Levidis (GRE) respectively in the Children’s Committee.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
The allocation of the following Championships was approved:
- The 2007 FEI World Dressage Para Equestrian Championship to Harbury (GBR) on 16-22 July
- The 2008 FEI World Four-in-Hands Driving Championship toMariënwaerdt/Beesd (NED) on 30 July-03 Aug
- The 2008 FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final to Gothenburg (SWE) at a date to be confirmed.
2008 OLYMPIC GAMES
The Organising Committee of the Olympic Games report was jointly presented by BOCOG, the Hong Kong SAR Government, The Hong Kong Equestrian Company Ltd and the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The progress report presented the venue and the preparations made to date. The Quarantine procedure and Veterinary Protocol presented raised concern among the National Federations with regard to the length of time the horses would need to spend away from home.
The Chairman of the FEI Veterinary Committee presented the studies that would need to be undertaken during the summer in regard to the climate so an evaluation of the real conditions could be made before finalization of the competition programming.
FEI WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES 2006
The Organising Committee of the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen (GER) made a progress report before the FEI General Assembly. 80% of the tickets are already sold and 500’000 spectators are expected.
FEI GAMES™ 2010
The Chief Executive Officer of the USA NF, John Long said a few words on behalf of the Organising Committee of the FEI Games™ 2010, which will take place from 20 September to 3 October in Kentucky. The enthusiasm is huge in Kentucky. As announced last week, the Para-Equestrian will be included in the programme of the FEI Games™. The Organising Committee, led by the State of Kentucky, confirmed that the import of horses positive to piroplasmosis was no longer an issue and that procedures had been set with the authorities. John Long concluded his report by underline the excellent level of cooperation between FEI and the Kentucky organisers in all sports and commercial aspects.
STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE (SPC)
The General Assembly endorsed the modernisation proposals from the SPC working group this will lead to intensive work over the coming months to develop a number of issues that require further consultation and then prepare the necessary changes to the FEI Statutes. These changes will be widely communicated in the coming months to ensure that all NFs have the time to have input so that the final proposals will be available by the fall FEI Group meetings".
COMMERCIAL DIVISION
The Commercial Director explained that major changes were currently undertaken within the FEI agency network. The FEI is approaching 3rd parties who are prepared to work under the following parameters: non-exclusivity, short-term period, no retainer fee and a reasonable commission.
The FEI properties will now be properly branded and registered.
The rights of the FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final will revert back to the FEI in 2007 after the long term contract with Las Vegas Event will be over.
For the first time, the FEI Games ™ 2010 title and category sponsorship rights will be sold jointly between the Kentucky Organising Committee and the FEI.
The FEI is very pleased to announce the extension of Samsung involvement in the Samsung Super League with FEI for a further three years, and is very proud to welcome Rolex to its sponsors family. Rolex is supporting the newly created “FEI Equestrian World” TV magazine.
As most of the key television issues were now centralised, FEI Television was created at the beginning of 2006. FEI Television’s main tasks are the creation the production and the selling of FEI TV properties.
As the FEI brand visibility has now reached a good level, the 2nd phase of the branding strategy will be launched in the course of 2006. The plan is to move from the present simple logo approach to “branded experiences”. Personalised branding messages suited to each specific supports will be created. The emphasis will be put on emotion, moving from “look” to “feel”. In that respect, an FEI TV Commercial has been created to communicate the FEI brand positioning statement “at the heart of horsesport”.
JUMPING
The General Assembly approved the limitations on entry fees for CSI events in Europe set from 1 Jan 2006.
Specifications for the testing of timing equipment were approved. Those will come into force for Jumping Championships, Games and Finals on 1 Jan 2007 and for all other international jumping events from 1 Jan 2009.
DRESSAGE
The FEI Rules for Dressage Events, 22nd edition, were approved. In her address, the Dressage Committee Chairman expressed her satisfaction at the excellent cooperation which had been established with the Veterinary Committee for the organisation of the Forum on Hyperflexion (see Veterinary Item below).
EVENTING
The FEI Rules for Eventing, 22nd edition, were approved
The Chairman of the Eventing Committee reported on the ongoing review of the discipline’s Strategic Plan. The Development programme of the discipline is proving very successful, particularly in the Eastern European countries.
The safety report which is available on the FEI website, provides a number of statistics on the discipline.
DRIVING
The Chairman commented in his report that the 2005/6 FEI Indoor World Cup had been a great success culminating in an extremely exciting final in Gotenborg in Sweden over the Easter weekend. He praised the dedication of the many Driving Officials who continued to support Driving Sport during the last year. He confirmed that once again 2005 had been another successful year within the discipline of Driving
ENDURANCE
The Chairman paid tribute to Dr Pierre Cazes (FRA), an Endurance Committee member, who had died during 2005 in an accident with a horse. He commented on the continuing growth in the sport, especially in South America, and thanked all those who continued to actively promote Endurance around the world.
VAULTING
The report of the Chairman of the Vaulting Committee was acknowledged.
REINING
In its presentation, the Chairman of the Reining Committee expressed its satisfaction at the growth of the discipline; which number of event increased by 50% in 2005.
Interest in the discipline from new reining countries includes Russia, and clinics are scheduled to take place in Moscow in July to introduce and showcase reining there.
PONY RIDERS
The Chairman of the Pony Riders Committee gave a review of the 2005 season.
CHILDREN
A new category C was introduced to encourage the development of sport in the countries where the level of riding among children has not yet reached teh standard of Category B. The Committee is working on the implementation of a children’s category in other disciplines such as Reining.
PARA-EQUESTRIAN
Mrs Jonquil Solt, the newly elected Chairman of the FEI Para-Equestrian Technical Committee, presented a message of goodwill to the FEI President and General Assembly Delegates from the President of the IPC, Sir Philip Craven, upon the transfer of Governance of the discipline into the FEI structure. Mrs Solt also thanked the FEI President for all her own commitment in bringing about this transfer.
The Para-Equestrian Generic Rules, covering all aspects of Para Equestrian Sport within the FEI were approved.
VETERINARY
Antidoping:
The FEI’s Medication Control Program (MCP) had a most successful year in 2005. The global number of samples collected from horses at 416 international events increased again to an all time high of 2518. This involved increased testing in Groups I & II (MCP: 1494 horses) as well as in the rest of the world (1024 horses). The other exciting news to report is that the rate of positive samples fell significantly in Groups I & II to 1.9% and in the other groups to 3.1%. This is the first substantiated drop for some years and demonstrates the FEI’s commitment to improving its medication control activities after the acceptance of the Task Force recommendations in 2005.
Influenza Vaccination:
The General Assembly was reminded of the 2004 decision to move to mandatory twice yearly booster vaccinations against equine influenza. This came into effect on January 2005, but sanctions for failing to comply to the rules did not come into effect until January 2006. The Veterinary Committee also provided a clarification that horses not competing in FEI events only require an annual booster each 12 months.
Hyperflexion (Rollkur):
A report of the Workshop organized by the Dressage and Veterinary Committees in January 2006 was given. The meeting involved an impressive group of riders, trainers, scientists, officials, veterinarians and journalists in the discussions. The conclusions of the group on the evidence presented were that no apparent abuse of horses was involved with this training technique, provided it was practiced by experienced riders/trainers (see report on the FEI website). However, the possible effect of hyperflexion in young horses or carried out by inexperienced riders/trainers is as yet unknown; further discussions and research are continuing to improve FEI’s understanding of the effects of this training method. Additional meetings are currently being planned between the two involved technical committees.
Cloning and Gene manipulation:
The FEI had received a proposal to ‘ban’ cloned horses from participation in international competitions. After a thorough discussion on the submission it was agreed to undertake an in-depth review of the development and science of cloning, to be carried out by the Veterinary Committee. The ethical and possible welfare implications would be considered by the Welfare sub-Committee, while contact with the World breeding Federation (WBFSH) would be sought on this issue. A full report would be communicated to the 2007 General Assembly.
LEGAL/JUDICIAL
The FEI General Counsel and the Chairman of the FEI Judicial Committee gave a joint presentation to the General Assembly.
A number of changes have been implemented since last year’s General Assembly, notably the establishment of a new legal department at the FEI head office in Lausanne. With this department taking on the prosecution and legal advisory roles, the Judicial Committee’s sole role is now that of decision-making body. A number of new processes have been established to ensure timely processing and effective prosecution of cases brought before panels of the Judicial Committee for decision.
95 cases were processed in 2005, with a significant reduction of open cases at the end of the year compared to the preceding year (30 in contrast to 58). For cases decided in 2006, there is a trend towards a decrease in the amount of time taken from initiation of a case to issuance of decision. This is due to in part to the use of administrative sanctioning in minor cases and improved processes. The implementation of the new Equine Anti-Doping and Medication Control Rules on 1 June 2006 should also contribute to increasing efficiency.
Both the Chairman and the Legal Counsel stressed the efforts being made towards achieving consistency and predictability in decisions, interpretation and application of rules. In order to achieve this goal, the necessity for continued independence of the Judicial Committee, as well as its evolution into a professional body of knowledge and experience in equestrian jurisprudence and decision-making were highlighted.
It is foreseen that the trend towards tougher sanctioning of positive test results will continue under the application of the Equine Anti-Doping and Medication Control Rules.
OTHER MEETINGS
The nine FEI Geographical Groups met on the morning of 29 April. In addition, the Pan American Equestrian Confederation and the Asian Equestrian Federation held their annual meetings.
The day prior to the Assembly, a very successful Forum was organised with two main themes: report of the Task Force on Anti Doping and Medication Policy and presentation of the proposed FEI Strategic Plan 2006-2010
FEI DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
The FEI Development Workshop chaired by FEI 1st Vice President, Freddy Serpieri gathered a very enthusiastic and keen attendance despite the very early schedule. The topics were presented by Jacqueline Braissant, Manager Development Department, Dr Harald Muller, Manager for Education at the International Athletics Amateur Federation (IAAF) and Gerry Mullins, FEI Development Advisor.
Jacqueline Braissant referred to the Mission, the Vision and the structure to put in place inside and outside the FEI in order to accomplish the mission as well as the 2006 objectives. Dr Harald Muller from the IAAF in Monaco explained how to set up a development programme, the essence and process of development and he concluded by describing the development programme put in place at the IAAF. Gerry Mullins, FEI Development Advisor concentrated on the implementation of a Basic Structure for Federations, the Influences on the FEI Coaching System, The European Network of Sports Science, Education and Employment (ENSSEE); the implementation of the FEI Coaching System; Making the Connection - Coaching and Competition and finally the FEI World Jumping Challenge.
The importance of the involvement of Group Chairmen as a branch office of the FEI Development Department was especially emphasised as a very important tool to drive, promote and co-ordinate FEI initiatives. Their role was to understand the needs of their respective Group, communicate with the FEI Development Department and create synergies among the NFs of their Group. It was also stated that NFs commitment is essential to lead their sport.
Due to the very tight schedule, only few questions could be raised after the presentations. Those mainly concerned the structure of the Development Department, i.e. the FEI Advisory Group and regional representation and the addition of other disciplines’ modules in the future.
PAEC
The Pan American Equestrian Confederation (PAEC) created in 2001 held its fifth General Assembly on 29 April.
AWARDS
During the FEI Annual Award Ceremony, the following individuals were honoured:
The Royal Spanish Equestrian Federation received the FEI Fair Play Certificate for the true spirit of camaraderie and sporting achievement which so many people witnessed during the 2005 FEI European Dressage Championship last July, when the Spanish team decided to share the bronze medal with Sweden..
The Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Services was presented to Gerry Mullins (IRL), Susanne Macken (IRL) and Mary Binks (KEN) for their untiring efforts in the FEI Development programme.
Three NFs representatives were made Honorary Delegates for having attended 15 General Assemblies: Abdelhaziz Barakat (MAR), Chester Hryniewicz (PUR) and Marek Zaleski (POL)
2006 GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Bureau accepted the invitation of the Portuguese Equestrian Federation to host the 2007 General Assembly in Estoril (POR).
This was the first time that the FEI World Cup Jumping Final was taking place in conjunction with the FEI General Assembly. The joint organisation of such complex and significant events represents a real organisational challenge for the host federation, which has been taken over brilliantly by the Equestrian Association of Malaysia.
The friendliness and ever smiling support of the General Assembly’s team of the Equestrian Association of Malaysia led by President, to Y.B. Dato’ Sri Dr. Jamaluddin bin Dato’ Mohd Jarjis, largely contributed to the success of the first FEI General Assembly organised in South East Asia.
Related Links
HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein Elected Thirteenth FEI President
World Equestrian Games to Become FEI Games in 2010