Equestrian Leaders Meet in Lausanne

FEI to Vote on Presidency Term-Limit

The International Equestrian Federation votes Tuesday on whether to allow its president to serve three terms -- even though current president Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein says her second term will be her last.

Princess Haya became the 13th FEI president on May 1, 2006 and was reelected in November 2010, despite persistent and public criticism from some FEI members.

The vote on extending the term limit will come at an Extraordinary General Assembly taking place in Lausanne, seat of FEI headquarters. The princess championed the eight-year limit herself almost seven years ago.

Under the current constitution, the president must stand down at the end of two four-year terms. Princess Haya would, in that case, step down this December at the General Assembly in Dubai.

FEI press relations manager Malina Guerguiev told Around the Rings that the Extraordinary General Assembly is expected to last one hour.

The assembly will also vote Tuesday on whether to amend statutes concerning the term of the FEI president, as well as the term of FEI bureau members, and on the creation of an Olympic Council.

Guerguiev said the FEI Olympic Council, which mirrors councils proposed by other international federations, would strive to build a "closer working relationship with the IOC."

The meeting takes place on the sidelines of the two-day 2014 FEI Sports Forum. Over 300 delegates from various national equestrian federations are in attendance at the forum this week.

The agenda for the annual forum includes items such as the event classification system for jumping, a progress report on the 2014 World Equestrian Games and a round table on vaulting.

USEF CEO John Long Passes the Torch

Making the trip to Lausanne for one of his final acts as CEO of the US Equestrian Federation is John Long who is retiring from his position. Chris Welton, former marketing executive for the Atlanta Olympics and the IOC, is taking over and will also be part of the US delegation to the FEI meetings.

"This will be another great opportunity for [Welton] make more introductions before his official start date of June 1," Long said. "Chris Welton is the right individual to lead the USEF this next decade."

Long hopes the USEF will use the assembly to make its relationship with the FEI "even stronger." This could lead to growth in the number of major international competitions here in the United States.

"Together we can leverage media rights in ways to make our sport much more visible," Long said.

Long told ATR that after making the decision to leave the USEF a year ago, "it made sense to leave even earlier" so his successor could attend the World Equestrian Games this summer.

"With all eight international disciplines competing in Normandy, the World Equestrian Games is larger than the Olympics for us," Long said. "It is an excellent opportunity to see all our teams compete and a great networking opportunity for the new CEO."

When asked about the current state of the USEF, Long said the organization is "more mature than even five years ago."

"We’ve accomplished much in the last decade," Long added.

Long says the USEF’s biggest accomplishment may be reducing the number of board members from 54 to 19 and "combining all of the international disciplines into one working group."

Long told ATR that a "good governance model won’t win medals, but an ineffective one can keep you off the podium."

Written byNicole Bennett

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