Main Decisions Taken at 2013 FEI General Assembly

Dressage

FEI Dressage News

The FEI General Assembly 2013 was held in Montreux (SUI) on 7 November 2013. The quorum consisted of 99 National Federations: 77 represented in person and 22 by proxy. Here are the main decisions taken that relate to dressage.

Elections

Technical Chair:
Dressage: Frank Kemperman (NED) was re-elected for a second term as FEI Dressage Committee chair (2013-2017)

FEI Tribunal:
Erik Elstad (NOR) was elected as chair of the FEI Tribunal to replace outgoing chair Jens Adolphsen (GER) for a term of four years 2013-2017. Jane Mulcahy (GBR) was elected as member of the FEI Tribunal to replace outgoing member Patrick A. Boelens (BEL) for a term of four years 2013-2017.

FEI Nominations Committee:
Member, Group I: Dorottya Strobl (HUN) was elected as member of the FEI Nominations Committee to replace outgoing member Jacky Buchmann (BEL) for a term of two years (2013-2015).
Member, Group II: Andrew Finding (GBR) was re-elected for a second term of two years (2013-2015).
Member, Group III: Bahruz Nabiyev (AZE) was elected as member to replace outgoing member Rakshan Radpour (IRI) for a term of two years (2013-2015). Member, Group IV: Naomi Roachford (BAR) was re-elected for a second term of two years (2013-2015).
Member, Group V: César Hirsch (VEN) was elected as member to replace outgoing member Maribel Alonso de Quinzaños (MEX) for a term of two years (2013-2015).
Member, Group VI: César Lopardo-Grana (ARG) was elected as member to replace Luiz Rocco (BRA) for a term of two years (2013-2015).
Member, Group VII: Badre Fakir (MAR) was elected as member to replace outgoing member Mohamad Ghazi Yehia (LIB) for a term of two years (2013- 2015).
Member, Group VIII: Yasuhiko Haruta (JPN) was re-elected for a second term of two years (2013-2015).
Member, Group IX: Gayle Hanssen (ZIM) was elected as member to replace outgoing member Neil Patrick Fitt (BOT) for a term of two years (2013-2015).

MODIFICATIONS TO STATUTES AND REGULATIONS

The General Assembly approved the modifications to the FEI Internal Regulations. A key change concerns the election of the members of the Athletes Committee, the concept for which was approved by the FEI Bureau on 4 November. From now on, the athlete representatives shall be elected via an online vote by athletes registered with the FEI in the discipline and included in the respective FEI Ranking List.

The General Assembly approved the modifications to the FEI General Regulations.

The main changes include:
• Branded armband
Upon a recommendation of the Bureau a provision clarifying that the FEI may require that sponsor branded armbands for the athlete ranked number one on the official international rankings be worn at FEI events was included. In line with this new provision, a corresponding sanction – a yellow warning card - to be issued to an athlete for not complying with the rule was put in place.

The corresponding Article 135 now reads:
4. The FEI shall be entitled to require that an armband be worn by Athletes ranked #1 on an Official International Ranking List at Events. 5. Failure to wear such armband where and when required after being notified to do so by an Official and/or the FEI, shall result in a Yellow Warning Card, being issued to the Athlete unless exceptional circumstances apply.

DRESSAGE

The General Assembly approved the full revision of the FEI Dressage Rules.

One of the main modifications concerns the introduction of a new Medium Level between the Small Tour and the Grand Prix Tour. The reasons behind this change had been discussed during the FEI Sports Forum earlier this year. The Medium Tour should make it easier for many athletes to advance to Grand Prix level. It should also help bring Dressage to a higher level in developing countries.

Other key changes concern:

Change from 58% to 60% in qualification score for all Freestyles and Grand Prix Specials;
Fly hoods not permitted to protect from sound
Set-up of arena during training;
Steward present at all times for training/warm-up
Elimination due to blood: the following wording has been added to Article 430.7.6:
“If the FEI Steward discovers fresh blood in the Horse’s mouth or in the area of the spurs during the equipment check at the end of the test (Art. 430.10), he informs the Judge at C, who will eliminate the Horse and the Athlete. If there is blood elsewhere on the Horse, an FEI Veterinarian is to be called to decide if the Horse is fit to continue.”
For championships: entry and substitution deadlines
Children’s events general update (ponies permitted)
Rotation of judges deleted
Max prize-money per category

The FEI Dressage Rules, 25th edition, effective 1 January 2014, will be published on the FEI website HERE.

VETERINARY MATTERS

The General Assembly approved the modifications to the FEI Veterinary Regulations.
The main objective of these changes was to further harmonise the veterinary aspects of the FEI disciplines. The revisions also include:

Addition of biosecurity measures facilitating the safe temporary movement of horses to and from events. FEI Passports, Recognition Cards and Microchips were reviewed to ensure high standards in compliance with those of the International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and of governments. Explanations on the way to handle administrative issues and errors were provided .
The specifics of equine anti-doping and medication control sampling and the events where sampling should be carried out were highlighted to ensure consistency across the world. The obligation of reporting the sampling in an appropriate timeframe was also addressed. The definition of gene doping and the approval of acupuncture, allowing only the use of solid needles, and the clear prohibition of the use of kinesiology taping in practice areas and in competition at events were included in the articles referring to Prohibited Methods (Article 1054) and Other Therapies (Article 1053)
Testing of blood was included in Article 1056 on Elective Testing.
Contingency planning in case of catastrophic injuries and fatalities and their efficient recording and fast reporting to the FEI was also addressed. The reporting time to the FEI of fatalities occurring during international events has been reduced. These should be reported as soon as possible with a full report due within 24 hours.
The presence and availability of official veterinarians on the field of play was highlighted. The requirement of the number of official veterinarians at an event to be proportionate to the scale of the event and the descriptions of the various veterinarian roles were further clarified.
Pony measurement was reviewed on the basis of the extensive experience now acquired in the field.
Ensuring the improvement of standards by organising committees and their implementation by veterinarians at events was reviewed, with further clarification added to the descriptions of the various veterinarian roles. The deadline for the appointments of veterinarians was adjusted to 10 weeks in order to reflect the FEI General Regulations.

The reviewed FEI Veterinary Regulations will be published on the FEI website HERE.

OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES

The General Assembly approved the Olympic qualification system for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with a large majority.
Further to a proposal by the National Federations, the maximum number of results to count towards the Olympic rankings in Dressage was reduced from eight, as outlined in the document sent by the FEI to the NFs in October, to four .

Where individual qualifications in Dressage are concerned, there will not be any qualifications at individual championships, as initially proposed. Instead, the two best ranked athletes on the FEI Olympic Athletes Ranking List from each of the seven Olympic Groups (for Groups D, F, E, and G: one athlete from the Olympic Ranking List and one from the Pan American Games for Groups D and E/special qualifying event for Groups F and G) will qualify.

The number of individual athletes qualified through the FEI Olympic Dressage Ranking List will be reduced from seven to six.
The amended qualification system will now be forwarded to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for final sign off and will then be published on the FEI website.

The General Assembly also approved the qualification system for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. A vote on a proposal introduced by the British Equestrian Federation was taken. According to this proposal, the individual qualification places in the Completion of Quota category are made open to all nations including those that have qualified a team of four. No nation can send more than five athletes. The allocation of Completion of Quota places is based on the FEI Paralympic Athletes Individual Ranking List. The proposal was approved.

The qualification system for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will be amended to reflect the GBR proposal and will be sent for final approval to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and will then be published on the FEI website.

ALLOCATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2014

The FEI General Assembly 2014 was allocated to Dubai (UAE). The decision was taken by the FEI Bureau at a meeting chaired by John McEwen, 1st FEI Vice President. The FEI President HRH Princess Haya was not present during the meeting and was not involved in the decision making process.

The complete document of the main decisions can be viewed here.