NOVEMBER BUREAU MEETING

By invitation of the Polish Equestrian Federation on its 70th anniversary, the FEI held its November Bureau meeting on 19 and 20 November in Warsaw (POL). The following was discussed, decided and/or referred to the FEI General Assembly, to be held from 17 to 21 April 1999 in Doha (QAT).

Due to illness, the President, HRH the Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón was unable to be present. In her absence, the 1st Vice President, Freddy Serpieri chaired the meeting.

The Bureau remembered Franz Pranter (AUT), former Treasurer of the FEI and Vicomte Hubert Jurien de la Gravière (FRA), and Honorary Bureau Member, who had both died two days before the meeting.

OLYMPIC RULES

There will be only a few changes to the Olympic Rules. No Olympic Champion from 1996 will however be automatically eligible for the 2000 Games. An article on control for prohibited substances of riders has been added which will be finalized after the IOC meeting on doping which will take place in February 1999.

STATUTES

The Bureau will propose to the General Assembly to create a separate geographical group for the African countries South of the Sahara, which is presently part of Group VII, together with the countries of the Gulf area.

GENERAL REGULATIONS

Criteria for new disciplines to be admitted by the FEI were established and will be decided upon by the General Assembly. Such discipline must be practiced by a minimum of 30 NFs from at least 4 geographical groups with a total participation of a minimum of 10,000 competitors.

WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES

The FEI will decide after the 2002 WEG in Jerez de la Frontera (ESP) on the World Championships 2006.

CALENDAR

It is proposed that CIO and CI-W take precedence over other CI applying for the same dates if announced to the FEI 2 years before these events take place.

MEDICATION CONTROL

It is proposed that the Executive Board may order the sampling of international riders during an event or at any other time.

APPEAL COMMITTEE

The Appeal Committee should only be obligatory for Games, Championships and Finals.

LEGAL SYSTEM

The legal system has been revised to be approved by the General Assembly.

CHAMPIONSHIPS 2001

The 2001 World Pairs Driving Championship has been allocated to St-Gallen (SUI) and the 2001 European Eventing Championship to Pau (FRA). There are five candidates for the 2001 European Jumping Championship (St-Gallen (SUI), Linz (AUT), Geesteren (NED), Donaueschingen (GER) and Nijmegen (NED). And three for the 2001 European Dressage Championship (Nijmegen (NED), Ksiaz (POL) and Verden (GER). They will be allocated during the next General Assembly at the latest.

NATIONS CUP

The Bureau agreed to the proposal from the Jumping Committee on the rules for the 3 and 4 star Samsung Nations Cup competitions forming the Samsung Series.

The trial period giving organizers the option of allowing only three riders in the second round was not prolonged. At all Nations Cups, in both rounds, there will be four riders of which the scores of three will count. The six top teams after the first round qualify for the second round. The home team, if not qualified, may compete if there are not more than 8 penalties difference between the home team and the 6th best placed team. 30 percent of the total number of 3 and 4 star competitions count toward the point's standings.

The minimum prize money for a four star Nations Cup is CHF 80,000, for a three star CHF 30,000 (for the latter, exceptions will be made for Central European countries). In a four star Nations Cup there must be two straight obstacles of 1.60 m (respectively 1.50 m in a 3 star). The top 6 teams receive points: in a 4 star Nations Cup 10-7-5-4-3-2 and in a 3 star: 7-5-4-3-2-1. In the Nations Cup Final the teams start from scratch. The total number of countries in the Final is 8. The top 6 teams in the point standings, plus 2 wild cards may compete.

CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR SMALL NATIONS

The Bureau supported the introduction of a Continental Jumping Championship for small nations to be called Continental B Championship. The level is the one of CSI-B, i.e. 1.35 - 1.45 m. The formula will be the same as for Senior Continental Jumping Championships.

JUMPING

The Bureau discussed the number of sponsored obstacles allowed. A decision can be expected from the General Assembly. In extreme heat conditions competitors may wear shirts with national colors. For the World Championships the number of obstacles and the distances of the first and second competitions have been slightly reduced.

DRESSAGE

As per 1 January 1999 there will be a Grand Prix Special shortened by 30 seconds.

EVENTING

The Bureau provisionally recognized the Professional Eventing Riders Association (PERA).

DRIVING

Among changes to the Driving rules, was the prohibition of the use of speedometers and distance counters in the Marathon.

ENDURANCE

The Bureau agreed to the creation of a Development working group for Endurance with the following members: Hallvard Sommerseth (NOR), Jim Bryant (CAN), Faisal Seddiq M. Samea (UAE) and Michael Stone of the FEI Secretariat.

VAULTING

The Bureau recognized the International Vaulting Club, a competitor organization.

CHILDREN

Ponies are not allowed anymore in the Children's World Final. They may however still be ridden in national competitions.

PONIES

It is proposed that the organizers of championships be no longer required to pay for accommodation of the competitors.

VETERINARY MATTERS

There were approximately 1500 samplings done in 1998, of which 1060 were in Europe by the MCP programme.31 were positive cases. About one third of the positive cases were for pain relieving substances, but only one was positive for caffeine/theobromine (suspected of being food related) as compared to 15 in 1997. The Veterinary Committee is working on standardization of horse inspections.

ETHICS COMMITTEE

The Fair Play Guidelines as established by the Ethics Committee during the WEG in Rome were discussed to be brought before the General Assembly.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORT

The FEI will actively seek new members, especially in Africa, providing administrative and financial help to potential new members. Furthermore, the affiliation procedure will be simplified. Presently there are 9 applications pending.

The Bureau has allocated money from the Development Fund to develop the training of officials in all disciplines. The regions to be assisted will be dependent on each discipline requirements. In addition, a program to assist the development of CSIOs will be established.

Visit the official web site for the FEI