Four foreign FEI dressage judges have accepted the invitation to judge at the 2023 Eurasian Championship national competition at Maxima Park in the Moscow area, Russia, on 13 - 16 July 2023.
The Eurasian Championship is organized by the Eurasian Equestrian Association and annually held at Nikolay Aristov's Maxima Park as part of a bigger show series which includes show jumping. The dressage show on 13 - 16 July features classes for children, pony, junior and young riders as well as senior tests.
Foreign FEI judges Mariano Santos (ESP), Peter Hansaghy (HUN), Sunil Shivdas (IND) and Waldo Yeh (TPE) have been invited to the show and are listed as judges on the official show schedule.
Are FEI Judges Allowed to Judge in Russia?
The fact that these international FEI judges have agreed to go to Russia fuelled highly emotional reactions from Ukrainian dressage riders and officials, who questioned the legality of it, the ethics of the FEI allowing this, and the moral compass of these individual judges.
Eurodressage inquired with the FEI on the matter, considering that the FEI banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes, officials and horses remain from FEI competitions due to the invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine and the atrocities on humanity taking place there. These two ally countries are also not allowed to host any FEI sanctioned international equestrian competitions.
The FEI told Eurodressage that "there is no FEI restriction on Officials officiating at national events taking place in RUS/BLR."
The FEI spokesperson added, "the FEI has no jurisdiction over national level events and, therefore, the FEI Board’s decision on RUS/BLR does not apply to national level events in RUS/BLR. As a general point, when judges officiate at national level events, they are not officiating in their capacity as FEI Officials. It is up to each individual official to decide if they want to officiate (or not) at national level events in RUS/BLR."
Why Judge in Russia?
Eurodressage asked for the judges' motivation to judge at an event in Russia and asked all four foreign judges. Yeh did not reply to our July 5 email, Shivdas said he "declined", and Hansaghy and Santos gave an elaborate statement.
Mariano Santos (ESP) replied, "When I received a call from the Secretary General of the Eurasian Equestrian Association, Sergey Buikevich, I felt necessary to make some reflections: A large majority of Eurasian athletes are not in favour of war, but they are not responsible of the decisions of their governments. Sport cannot stop this terrible war, but I believe in the unifying and conciliative nature of sport, and IOC recommends that neutral athletes, provided they are not connected with political or military decisions should be allowed to participate as individuals in competitions under certain conditions. Most of Russian and Belarusian equestrian athletes and officials have no power to influence in political decisions
Peter Hansaghy (HUN) gave a lengthy statement. "I consider politics to be such a dirty thing that I try to stay away from it and do not want to get involved at any level. Regardless, I am aware of who is an aggressor and a criminal. I feel sorry for the Ukrainians, I personally helped colleagues and I regularly support Ukrainian refugees in my country. However, I condemn all generalizations, the collective punishment, especially when an entire nation is judged guilty. One can say why the people don't rebel against their leaders, but this should be said by someone who has already done it, or tried to do it in a dictatorship or strong autocracy, and is still alive, but someone who has never lived in such an environment should not judge anybody. There were declared in the history folks to be guilty – it never had a happy end. I feel very primitive when people who have nothing to do with the crimes are punished and hated."
The Hungarian judge added, "I have experience of dictatorship and autocracy, I lived and live in it, I know what I'm talking about. I don't agree with our Prime Minister 90% of the time, but I can't do much about it. It is true that I was many times in Ukraine and the people were always kind to me and the hospitality was excellent. But it was the same in Russia. I met nice horsemen in both countries, whom I keep in my fond memories. I never spoke with these people about politics. I did not criticize because Ukrainians, Russians and others, in common agreement as the Soviet Union, crushed our revolution against the communists in 1956 and occupied us for more than 40 years. I didn't remind any Ukrainians that their law on minorities, which also cripples the Hungarian nationality, is still in force and tries to kill the national self-consciousness, the mother tongue and the own culture. I also did not mention why those who threaten Ukrainian citizens just because they speak Hungarian and destroy their monuments can go unpunished. The reason I didn't talk about these things is because the people I met cannot be held responsible for these crimes. (...) According to my own values outlined above, I travel to Moscow with a clear conscience."
Following the publication of this article, Yeh contacted Eurodressage and issued the following statement: "as a pacifist I am never in favor of any war always. I sincerely offer the Ukrainian community my great respect but at the same time am apologetic for the athletes, officials and horses from Russia and Belarus who have to unfortunately bear the consequences brought about by the political or military decisions of their governments."
What's the Position of the International Dressage Officials Club?
Eurodressage also inquired with the International Dressage Officials Club (IDOC) and asked its president, Danish 5* judge Hans-Christian Matthiesen, of the club's viewpoint on the matter.
This resulted in a board meeting to discuss and word the IDOC's position regarding the participation of FEI licensed officials in national events in countries under FEI sanctions.
They sent out the following letter to all IDOC members and Eurodressage.
“Although the basic principle of the neutrality of sport is well established, there are from time to time some mitigating factors that affect us all.
While the FEI has clearly stated that national competitions fall outside of the FEIs range of authority, it has said that, at the present time, the issue of Russia/Belarus and the Ukraine requires the prohibition of athletes, horses and officials from Russia and Belarus from participating in FEI events.
Participation of FEI licensed officials in national events in countries under FEI sanctions, where these officials have been invited because of their FEI status, still requires adherence to the principle of the sanction in place. IDOC strongly recommends that such an invitation be declined.
All categories of officials within the IDOC family should thus adhere to this policy.”
Related Links
FEI to Maintain Protective Measures regarding Russian and Belarusian athletes
Russians, Belarusians Can Compete in 2023 Asian Games
Russian Judges Remain Barred from Officiating in 2023
FEI Extends Ban and Removes All Russian and Belarusian International Events from 2023 Calendar
Russian Equestrian Federation Loses Appeal with FEI Tribunal against Being Barred from Sport
Russian and Belarusian Athletes, Horses & Officials Prohibited from Participating in FEI Events