IOC Recommends the Exclusion of Eventing In the Olympic Programme

Aug 30, 2002 - The FEI was informed of the conclusions of the Olympic Programme Commission report which was presented to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board on 28 August 2002 in Lausanne (SUI). The commission was in charge of reviewing the Olympic Programme and presented recommendations on the programme of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Three sports and five disciplines were recommended for exclusion of the Olympic programme, among which the equestrian discipline of Eventing, considering the costs for venue preparations and operations for Games OC and the issue of safety of athletes and horses.

Since the 2000 Olympic Games, the FEI has conducted a thorough study on the discipline of Eventing, consulting with a number of specialists inside and outside the sport. Important changes were made in the discipline format to improve safety both of the riders and horses and a global safety programme was put in place. The FEI worked with the IOC to significantly reduce the “Minimum Requirements for Olympic Games” and important changes to the format of the Olympic Eventing competition were adopted to lower the cost of staging the discipline for the OC.

The FEI organised several meetings with the OC of the 2004 Olympic Games (ATHOC) in order to review the budget of the infrastructure of the equestrian competitions.

The FEI expresses its surprise that changes are proposed for the 2008 Olympic Games, as Beijing was allocated the Games under the conditions that all sports and disciplines present in Athens were included.

Decisions on inclusion/exclusion of sports within the Olympic programme will be made during the 114th IOC Session in Mexico at the end of November. Changes regarding disciplines and events will be further discussed during future IOC Executive Board meetings.

The FEI will study in detail the Olympic Programme Commission's report and ask the IOC for further details. A comprehensive presentation will be submitted to the IOC Executive Board before the IOC session of Mexico.

Extraordinary Meeting of the Eventing Committee
9-02 -The Chairman of the Eventing Committee, Wayne Roycroft (AUS) called an emergency meeting on Sunday 1 September with his committee, the manager of the Olympic and Eventing department and additional advisors.

The Committee is in the process of formalising recommendations to the FEI Executive Board on the best ways to counter the report of the Olympic Programme Commission which stated that Eventing should be excluded from the programme of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

It is clear that Eventing has the unqualified support of the FEI as a whole and a detailed proposal will be finalised shortly.