Main decisions taken by the FEI Bureau

The spring in-person meeting of the FEI Bureau, held at the FEI Headquarters in Lausanne (SUI), took place today. The main decisions taken by the Bureau are outlined in the attached document 

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The spring in-person meeting of the FEI Bureau, held at the FEI Headquarters in Lausanne (SUI), took place today.

The main decisions taken by the Bureau are outlined in the attached document [below].

FEI SPORTS FORUM 2015 FOLLOW-UP

Questionnaire

A questionnaire based on the proposed changes discussed at length during the FEI SportsForum 2015 was presented to the Bureau.

The questionnaire, which is part of the consultation process that started with the SportsForum, is divided into three sections. The first section contains questions about the principlesof change to be applied to all FEI disciplines such as increased universality and the clearseparation of team and individual competitions. The second part is dedicated to disciplinespecificchanges and the third part deals with Para-Dressage.

The questionnaire will be going to the National Federations which will have until 30 June to

respond.

The Bureau also agreed to modify the communicated deadlines concerning the rules revisionto allow Technical Committees to review the responses and potentially propose somemodification to discipline rules at the FEI General Assembly in November 2015.

Ideal number of participants in the FEI World Equestrian Games™

On the proposal of the FEI President, the Bureau approved the principle to control the numberof participants in each discipline at the FEI World Equestrian Games™. This is considered akey principle for the future of the Games especially for attracting new organisers andestablishing TV partnerships.

The Technical Committees will work on proposals that will be discussed at the in-personBureau meeting to be held in November prior to the FEI General Assembly.

FEI Sports Forum 2016

The next edition of the FEI Sports Forum will be held in April 2016, the exact dates being subject to confirmation. The main focus of the Forum will be on FEI Officials.

REMUNERATION OF THE FEI PRESIDENT

Following the FEI General Assembly’s decision to allow for presidential remuneration, theBureau agreed that the FEI President receive remuneration.

A temporary committee the objectives of which are to study the legal aspects of the GeneralAssembly’s decision, compare the way the matter is handled at various internationalorganisations, and establish the exact amount of the remuneration has been created.

The committee is chaired by FEI 1st Vice President John Madden (USA) and has Mark Samuel(CAN), chair of Regional Group IV, and Brian Mangan (IRL), chair of the FEI Audit andCompliance Committee, as members. It will work in cooperation with professional servicesnetwork and FEI accounts auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers. Claude Praz, FEI’s Chief FinancialOfficer, and Mikael Rentsch, FEI Legal Director, will assist the group and ensure compliancewith Swiss law.

The committee will negotiate and agree on the package with the President. The committeewill report back to the Bureau. The remuneration package with appear in the FEI Financialstatements.

The FEI President was not present in the meeting room during the discussion regarding

remuneration.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY TOPICS

CI/CIOs organised by NFs outside of their territories.The Bureau discussed the organisation of FEI events by National Federations outside of theirnational territory.

The Bureau agreed that the strict principle of territoriality for FEI events must remain.

However, if a European NF wishes to organise a second CSIO in its country, it can request aderogation from the Bureau as foreseen in the FEI Jumping Rules. Countries outside of Europemay organise two CSIOs per country every year.

The principle will be included in the FEI General Regulations upon the approval of the GeneralAssembly.

Entries fees for FEI events.The Bureau approved a proposal that the maximum entry fees charged for FEI events do notinclude VAT or other government taxes.

PROPOSALS FOR MODIFICATIONS TO FEI REGULATIONS

The Bureau examined a number of proposals for modifications to the FEI General Regulations.

The main ones include a new provision allowing the FEI to lodge a protest given that currentlyprotests may only be lodged by NFs presidents, officials, chefs d’équipe or, if there is no chefd’équipe, by a person responsible or a team veterinarian responsible for horses taking part inan FEI event. This will allow the FEI to start proceedings which was not possible in the past.

A new provision allowing legal proceedings to be opened in the event that a conduct bringsequestrian sport, and the FEI in particular, into disrepute and/or in case of match fixing,betting, bribery and/or corruption will also be added.

The Bureau also approved a provision regarding the statute of limitations on prosecution,which should be time-barred after: one year for offences committed on the field of play or inits immediate vicinity; eight years for doping offences; five years for all other offences. Matchfixing,bribery and corruption will not be subject to a statute of limitations.

The Bureau approved the expansion of the definition of "unsanctioned events" so that in theevent that a National Federation is suspended by the FEI, the national events of such an NFwill be considered as "unsanctioned events". For the avoidance of any doubt, the nationalathletes would be allowed to compete in the national events and only international athleteswould be subject to the unsanctioned events provision should such a situation arise.

Following the Bureau meeting, these proposals will be reviewed by the National Federationsand will be submitted to the vote of the FEI General Assembly in November. If accepted bythe General Assembly, they will come into effect on 1 January 2016.

JUMPING

The Bureau approved:

• the revised FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 rules;

• a clarification to Article 14 of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ 2015 rules relating to the

substitution of teams withdrawing from the 2015 Final;

• clarifications/modifications to the rules for the FEI Children’s International Classics Final,

effective for the 2015 Final.

All the updated rules will be published on the FEI website here.

DRESSAGE

The Bureau approved the revised FEI World Cup™ Dressage Rules for the 2015-2016 season.

They will be published on the FEI website here.

The Bureau approved the introduction of an annual FEI European Dressage ChampionshipsU25 as of 2016. It will be built up along the lines of the other FEI age group championships,and will include team and individual medals.

The FEI Bureau approved the addition of the category of 7-year old horses to the FEI WorldBreeding Dressage Championship for Young Horses as of 2016. The level will be Small Tour(Prix St. Georges/Intermediate I). The actual tests will be decided in cooperation with WorldBreeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH).

EVENTING

The Bureau approved the continuation of the FEI Classics™ and FEI Nations Cup™ Eventingthrough 2016. A new event in the USA will be added to the 2016 Nations Cup calendar.The Technical Committee chair updated the Bureau about the external Audit of Eventing whichis being carried out by Charles Barnett. The expert is currently concentrating on statistics andis interviewing various parties. The report, which will be finalised at the end of the year, willcontain an analysis of horse falls related to Jumping efforts during the Cross Country test atFEI competitions; a risk factor associated with falls; and a review of the qualification systems.

DRIVING

The Bureau approved the revised FEI World Cup™ Driving rules for the 2015/2016 season.

They will be published on the FEI website here.

ENDURANCE

The Bureau approved the proposed modification to the FEI Endurance Rules which includesgreater penalties for athletes whose horses suffers a catastrophic injury. A new provision willbe added to Article 815.3.6. According to this provision, if a horse participates in a CEI or aNational Event during its rest period time, the athlete will receive 100 penalty points whichwill result in an automatic two-month suspension. Potential additional sanctions may be

imposed by the FEI Tribunal.

The Bureau approved the proposed modification to the rules for the FEI World EnduranceRankings effective 1 January 2016. They will be published on the FEI website here.

VAULTING

The Bureau approved the revised FEI World Cup™ Vaulting rules for the 2015/2016 season.

They will be published on the FEI website here.

REINING

The Bureau approved the revised FEI World Cup™ Reining rules for the 2015/2016 season.

They will be published on the FEI website here.

VETERINARY MATTERS

A new administrative system will be implemented for the Equine Anti-Doping and ControlledMedication Programme (EADCMP) in 2016, in order to harmonise it on a global scale. TheVeterinary Department will coordinate the programme and be responsible for selecting eventsat which testing is to take place and the number of horses to sample. Testing Veterinarianswill be appointed to sample horses at events and all assisting technicians will have undergonetraining and an examination prior to FEI registration. Educational material will be available

later in the year. The Veterinary Department will work with the Corporate Communicationsand IT Departments in implementing the programme.

Key changes to the Veterinary Regulations for 2016 will be consistent with the implementationof the new EADCMP administrative process. The definition of testing technicians and theirregistration process will be included, along with the registration of Testing Veterinarians. Thenumber of horses tested at events will no longer be a stated requirement and testing will notonly take place at 3* events or higher, but at any level of event determined by the FEIVeterinary Department.

ALLOCATION OF FEI CHAMPIONSHIPS AND FINALS

2016

Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final, Barcelona (ESP), 22-25 September

FEI Children’s International Classics Final, Valle de Bravo (MEX), 27-31 January

FEI World Breeding Driving Championship for Young Horses, Conty (FRA), 25-28 August

FEI World Cup™ Driving Final, Bordeaux (FRA), 6-7 February

FEI European Driving Championship for Young Riders, Juniors & Children, Biblis (GER), 7-11

September

FEI World Breeding Endurance Championship for Young Horses, Negrepelisse (FRA), 21-25

September

2017

FEI European Jumping Championship for Young Riders, Juniors & Children, Samorin (SVK),

dates TBC

FEI European Eventing Championship for Young Riders and Juniors, Millstreet (IRL), dates TBC

World Endurance Championship for Young Riders & Juniors, Verona (ITA), 22-24 September

FEI World Endurance Championship for Young Riders & Juniors, Verona (ITA), 22-24

September

FEI European Vaulting Championships, Stadl Paura (AUT), 2-6 August

FEI World Vaulting Championships for Juniors, Stadl Paura (AUT), 2-6 August

FEI North America Championships for Young Riders & Juniors (Jumping/Dressage/ParaDressage/Eventing/Reining/Endurance),

Lexington - KY (USA), dates TBC

The allocation of the FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final 2017, Longines FEI World Cup™ JumpingFinal 2018, FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final 2018, and FEI Nations Cup™ Final 2018 waspostponed.

The Bureau decided on the principle that regional status to championships will be given by theRegional Groups and no longer by the FEI. These events will remain FEI events but will nolonger be considered as FEI Championships. World and continental championships will remainFEI Championships.

RIO 2016 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES

The Bureau heard an update on preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The FEI is monitoring progress closely and is working in cooperation with the OrganisingCommittee and the Brazilian authorities to ensure a successful Olympic test event in Augustand excellent Games in 2016.

The Bureau approved the appointment of the officials for the Rio 2016 Olympic and ParalympicGames. The full list will be published on the FEI website here.

CONTINENTAL AND REGIONAL GAMES

The Bureau was updated on the facts and figures of all the ongoing continental and regionalmultisport Games.

The Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) has increased the quota for equestrian sportto 150 for the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima (PER).

FEI SOLIDARITY

The FEI President updated the Bureau on the activities of the FEI Solidarity which he chairs.

One of the main goals for the FEI Solidarity Department in 2015 will be to evaluate theprogramme, to analyse the successes and constraints in order to improve the system as thenumber of projects grows.

New tools

New Equestrian Sports Educative Events (ESEE) have been created and 14 officials andcoaches have been trained in Chile and Bulgaria. They are now ready to deliver ESEEs inJumping, Dressage and Eventing in eight countries in Latin America and the Balkans.The NF IT Platform, the initial goal of which is to offer a complete solution for horsesportmanagement, is currently being finalised. A workshop will be organised at the beginning ofAugust for the administrators of the seven NFs involved in this pilot project.

FEI Solidarity Officer

From January to May 2015, the FEI Solidarity Officer has visited nine countries – Myanmar,Cambodia, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, India, Zambia, Bulgaria and Albania – to evaluate theirachievements and needs and agree on a strategy for a long-term national development plan.

FEI Coach Education Programme

Currently 35 FEI courses for coaches (level 1 to 3) are scheduled to take place in 2015.

The first coaches having completed an FEI Level 3 course will be certified following a formalassessment in Mexico City (MEX) in August.

The FEI Endurance Department and the FEI Solidarity Department are working together onthe development of the material for coaches courses in Endurance.

AFFILIATION

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) was granted provisional affiliation to the FEI by the FEI Bureau.

This means that the Bosnia and Herzegovina National Federation has all the rights of an FEImember federation except the right to vote at the FEI General Assembly. Full membership willbe voted upon by the FEI General Assembly in November 2015.

WORLD BREEDING FEDERATION FOR SPORT HORSES (WBFSH)

The Bureau approved the Memorandum of Understanding which will be signed with theWBFSH.

The Bureau gave mandate to the Executive Board to appoint the members who will representthe FEI on the FEI-WBFSH Council.

The Bureau approved an agreement with the WBFSH regarding rankings. The horse rankings will be owned and managed by the FEI. The rankings of breeders, stallions, and studbooks willbe the responsibility of the WBFSH.

SPORTACCORD MEMBERSHIP

The Bureau confirmed that the membership of the FEI with SportAccord will remain suspended

until further notice.

For more information, please contact:

FEI Media contacts:

Grania Willis

Director Press Relations

grania.willis@fei.org

+41 78 750 61 42

Malina Gueorguiev

Manager Press Relations

malina.gueorguiev@fei.org

+41 78 750 61 33

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