Equestrian Leader Deflects Concern for Rio Venue

(ATR)Will Connell, the U.S. Equestrian Federationdirector of sport tells Around the Rings thatnext year's equestrian events will take place inside Brazil.

"I am more than confident we will be competing in Rio next year.

"If you want to bet your investments on something, I would say that betting on equestrian taking part in Rio next year is a pretty safe bet."

The USEF leader's comments offset concerns expressed by Luiz Roberto Giugni,head of the Brazilian Equestrian Confederation, who is worried his team's horses will not compete at the Deodoro Olympic Park in 2016.

During a press conference on Thursday, Giugni called out the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry for delays in issuing documentation needed to allow horses brought into Brazil from Europe, the U.S. and Canada to enter and leave the country.

"If the problem is not resolved by the end of the month, we run the risk of not having the event in Brazil," Guigni told the AP on Thursday. "We are running late."

Connell tells ATR that he is "very concerned" that it is taking the ministry this long to put importation and exportation protocols in place."The delay is very annoying.

"From a team-point of view, your logistics plan is built around the arrival and the departure of the horses."

Still, the USEF leader says the Olympic equestrian test event that took place in Rio in August solidified his confidence in the organizing committee.

"Rio 2016 is putting excellent procedures in place to ensure from when the horses land at the international airport to when they are at the venue they are treated like kings and queens."

The test event, Connell added, showcased "very encouraging presentations" from Rio 2016. Organizers have built new stables near Deodoro as well as a new veterinary clinic to maintain a "disease-free zone" during the Games.

"There are a lot of great things that have been done.

"It's just unfortunate that these health protocols, which are the responsibility of the agriculture ministry and not Rio 2016, have been so delayed."

Rules for bringing horses to and from Brazil are strict, as the country is still subject to diseases affecting horses. The AP says that earlier this year cases of glanders, a lethal highly contagious bacterial infection, were diagnosed in a few horses stabled at a military facility near the site of the 2016 Olympic equestrian competitions.

Officials said the disease had been contained and represented no threat to the Olympic events.

The president of the International Equestrian Federation, Ingmar de Vos, has echoed Guigni's concerns on the Agriculture Ministry's delay in approving the veterinary certificate and protocol.

"The process of approval has already taken a lot of time and is still not finalized," de Vos said in a statement."This has an important impact as it delays the planning and preparation of the horses that will take part in the Games.

"We had further discussions earlier this week and I expect the Ministry of Agriculture to issue this certificate very soon so that we can carry on with preparations for the Olympic Games.

"We are looking forward to very successful Olympic equestrian events in Deodoro next year."

Should the 2016 Olympic equestrian events have to take place elsewhere, it would not be the first time.

In 2008, they were held in Hong Kong during the Beijing Games. During the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Australia's strict quarantine regulations forced organizers to move equestrian events to Sweden.

Written byNicole Bennett

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