The Portuguese Dressage Committee has handed in its letter of resignation on Friday 28 June following a breakdown of trust in the board.
Equitacao first reported the news.
The Portuguese dressage committee includes Frederico Pinteus (judge), Manuel Neves Veloso (trainer), Mário Galiza Mendes (veterinarian) and Nuno Palma e Santos (international rider).
The resignation follows in the wake of the resignation of vice president Luis Faisca over the (senior) dressage team selection process. FEP's president and managing director Bruno Alfredo Pinto Rente (49) took over Faisca's responsibilities related to the disciplines of Dressage, ParaDressage and Working Equitation.
Almost two months later the FEP Dressage Committee called it quits "due to the breakdown of the relationship of transparency and trust between the Management and the committee," as Equitacao posted. The Committee's email to the president stated that the DC shows a "willingness to remain in a dismissal situation until the end of the European Championships and Olympic Games, providing any technical support that may be necessary."
Unconfirmed rumours of a sudden dropping of the youth selection criteria (4x 66% at a CDI) for team selection are allegedly part of the DC's resignation.
Eurodressage reached out to Pinteus and Palma e Santos and neither were willing to comment on the current situation. Pinteus stated that the "Dressage Technical Committee does not know who will be part of the (youth) teams, when they will be announced, and is also unaware that the "minimum criteria" (MER) for the youth has been changed or removed. (..) If the MER for the youth has been changed or removed, the (resigning) Dressage Committee was not consulted."
Photo © Astrid Appels
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