[Endurance Riding: News] UAE withdraws appeal against equestrian suspension
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Endurance.Net
May 25, 2015, 5:33:57 PM5/25/15
to ne...@endurance.net
Insidethegames.biz - Full Article
By David Owen
Monday, 25 May 2015
Taleb Al Muhairi, secretary general of the Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF), is to meet International Equestrian Federation (FEI) officials in Lausanne on Tuesday (May 26), amid signs that efforts to persuade the FEI that it can justifiably lift a suspension imposed in March are getting under way.
The EEF has now launched a new committee to oversee a review into endurance racing - the discipline that aroused the FEI’s concerns - in the United Arab Emirates.
The Endurance Committee, which is to be under direct observation of the UAE’s National Olympic Committee, will seek to work closely with the FEI to “ensure that the world governing body’s rules and regulations are applied in all endurance races in the UAE”.
The UAE was suspended from the FEI in March following an investigation into “major horse welfare issues” and allegedly faked results in endurance events.
The governing body’s Bureau, chaired by FEI President Ingmar De Vos, ruled that the EEF “may not attend or be represented at any session or meeting of any body of the FEI, may not organise any international events, and its members cannot participate in any international events”, although UAE athletes from disciplines other than endurance would be permitted to compete under the FEI flag in international competitions organised outside the country.
In notably conciliatory remarks coinciding with the announcement of the new committee, Al Muhairi said: “As the governing body of equestrian sports in the UAE, it is our goal to pursue excellence while promoting the growth of the sport and safeguarding the welfare of equine and human athletes...
Read more here:
http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1027533/uae-withdraws-appeal-against-equestrian-suspension
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Posted By Endurance.Net to Endurance Riding: News at 5/25/2015 02:33:00 PM
By David Owen
Monday, 25 May 2015
Taleb Al Muhairi, secretary general of the Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF), is to meet International Equestrian Federation (FEI) officials in Lausanne on Tuesday (May 26), amid signs that efforts to persuade the FEI that it can justifiably lift a suspension imposed in March are getting under way.
The EEF has now launched a new committee to oversee a review into endurance racing - the discipline that aroused the FEI’s concerns - in the United Arab Emirates.
The Endurance Committee, which is to be under direct observation of the UAE’s National Olympic Committee, will seek to work closely with the FEI to “ensure that the world governing body’s rules and regulations are applied in all endurance races in the UAE”.
The UAE was suspended from the FEI in March following an investigation into “major horse welfare issues” and allegedly faked results in endurance events.
The governing body’s Bureau, chaired by FEI President Ingmar De Vos, ruled that the EEF “may not attend or be represented at any session or meeting of any body of the FEI, may not organise any international events, and its members cannot participate in any international events”, although UAE athletes from disciplines other than endurance would be permitted to compete under the FEI flag in international competitions organised outside the country.
In notably conciliatory remarks coinciding with the announcement of the new committee, Al Muhairi said: “As the governing body of equestrian sports in the UAE, it is our goal to pursue excellence while promoting the growth of the sport and safeguarding the welfare of equine and human athletes...
Read more here:
http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1027533/uae-withdraws-appeal-against-equestrian-suspension
--
Posted By Endurance.Net to Endurance Riding: News at 5/25/2015 02:33:00 PM
Truman Prevatt
May 25, 2015, 5:50:42 PM5/25/15
to ride...@endurance.net
Here comes the compromise.
In reality I think that the UAE has a valid complaint. Not that I agree with anything they have done but based on how our Olympic sports are organized and managed. The FEI ban if still in place would eliminated a UAE equestrian team in the 2016 Olympics for an infraction of an event that is not an Olympic sport. Clearly the UAE can appeal that to the IOC and most likely would prevail since in legalistic terms, endurance is not an Olympic sport so it should not disqualify the UAE in the Olympic sports.
If the UAE were to prevail there the FEI would be - to quote former US President Richard Nixon, “be twisting in the wind” because any leverage the FEI had would be gone. I see a compromise coming and it is not one that is in the best benefit to our horses I am sure. A legitimate option would be for the FEI to get out of the endurance discipline since it is not an Olympic sport so there is no real reason for the FEI to be involved. The next few months will be a lot of fun to watch.
Truman
--
"My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition." Indira Gandhi
"My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition." Indira Gandhi
--
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Diane Trefethen
May 26, 2015, 2:45:05 PM5/26/15
to ride...@endurance.net
Truman’s points are valid vis-à-vis the IOC, and not just with respect to
the 2016 Olympics. This ban could legitimately be shown to impact the UAE’s
non-Endurance teams’ ability to hone their competitive skills at
international competition. While FEI has chosen to place the sport of
Endurance under its auspices, the IOC has not. If the UAE were to file a
complaint that FEI has abused its authority and discretion by placing UAE
equestrian teams at a distinct disadvantage to the rest of the world, such
a plea would most likely receive a favorable hearing with IOC.
Banning the entire federation made sense to FEI. In most (all?) countries,
all the Olympic equestrian disciplines are governed by one body. The
easiest way to put the brakes on one country’s wayward discipline is to ban
the entire federation and let THEM rein in the abuses. That ploy works well
but not in the sport of Endurance. Not only is Endurance not an Olympic
sport, additionally it isn’t even part of the “in” group amongst Olympic
level equestrian sports. Do you really think either the USEF Eventing team
or our Dressage team would give a rat’s ass about their USA Endurance
“teammates” if they indulged in the kinds of abuses condoned by UAE
Endurance? Hell no! Our other disciplines would throw Endurance under the
bus in a heartbeat. They would succeed too, in getting Endurance kicked out
of USEF, if that is what was necessary for them to protect their own interests.
Unfortunately for the horses, not to mention FEI, that is not the case in
the UAE. There, Endurance is not the impotent non-member of the elite
group. It IS the elite group. In what other discipline does UAE excel?
Where are their Olympic Eventing champions? Dressage champions <snark>?
Driving champions <another snark>? Nowhere. That’s where. But Endurance? Oh
yeah. UAE is all over Endurance, winning here, winning there. If FEI stops
handling international competition in Endurance, unless and until a non-UAE
group [read reputable] starts a new international platform for Endurance,
the UAE will once again be relegated to the bottom of the international
equestrian heap. And they do NOT like that prospect.
With respect to relations with the rest of the international equestrian
community [read Europe], remember that UAE is no different than the USA was
in the 1940s. They are disdained as lesser. Lesser than the old,
prestigious European federations. Lesser riders, lesser trainers, uncouth
and bourgeois to boot. It is only by repeatedly displaying superior horses,
horsemanship, and yes, winning, that this snobbery will be abated. We’ve
done that and given time, UAE could too. But who wants to wait when he
knows a shortcut to fame and glory? And for UAE, Endurance is that shortcut.
Will FEI be forced to “compromise?” On the reach of the ban, probably yes.
On the UAE’s Endurance discipline? That’s not such a forgone conclusion.
FEI can easily lift the ban on the UAE’s other disciplines and keep the ban
on Endurance based on the fact that the others are Olympic sports and
Endurance is not. If this is the form an FEI “compromise” takes, that would
be good for both the horses and Endurance in the UAE. Clearly the hubris of
the shaikhs has gotten out of control and it is up to them (after all –
they are the real power in UAE Endurance) to clean up their own act. If FEI
continues to cut them off from international competition, they WILL change
how they do business.
Is there is a danger that they will simply learn to cheat less detectably?
Yes, but the good news is that this is not likely. Phishers have been
around for what? 10 years? And they still can’t compose an email longer
than 5 sentences without giving themselves away. In the long run, it will
be easier for the shaikhs to end the outrageous instances of abuse and
cheating and content themselves with nibbling away at the edges, as do all
the disciplines, than to keep their heads in the sand, pretending that no
one can see their bad behavior.
Diane Trefethen
AERC #2691
the 2016 Olympics. This ban could legitimately be shown to impact the UAE’s
non-Endurance teams’ ability to hone their competitive skills at
international competition. While FEI has chosen to place the sport of
Endurance under its auspices, the IOC has not. If the UAE were to file a
complaint that FEI has abused its authority and discretion by placing UAE
equestrian teams at a distinct disadvantage to the rest of the world, such
a plea would most likely receive a favorable hearing with IOC.
Banning the entire federation made sense to FEI. In most (all?) countries,
all the Olympic equestrian disciplines are governed by one body. The
easiest way to put the brakes on one country’s wayward discipline is to ban
the entire federation and let THEM rein in the abuses. That ploy works well
but not in the sport of Endurance. Not only is Endurance not an Olympic
sport, additionally it isn’t even part of the “in” group amongst Olympic
level equestrian sports. Do you really think either the USEF Eventing team
or our Dressage team would give a rat’s ass about their USA Endurance
“teammates” if they indulged in the kinds of abuses condoned by UAE
Endurance? Hell no! Our other disciplines would throw Endurance under the
bus in a heartbeat. They would succeed too, in getting Endurance kicked out
of USEF, if that is what was necessary for them to protect their own interests.
Unfortunately for the horses, not to mention FEI, that is not the case in
the UAE. There, Endurance is not the impotent non-member of the elite
group. It IS the elite group. In what other discipline does UAE excel?
Where are their Olympic Eventing champions? Dressage champions <snark>?
Driving champions <another snark>? Nowhere. That’s where. But Endurance? Oh
yeah. UAE is all over Endurance, winning here, winning there. If FEI stops
handling international competition in Endurance, unless and until a non-UAE
group [read reputable] starts a new international platform for Endurance,
the UAE will once again be relegated to the bottom of the international
equestrian heap. And they do NOT like that prospect.
With respect to relations with the rest of the international equestrian
community [read Europe], remember that UAE is no different than the USA was
in the 1940s. They are disdained as lesser. Lesser than the old,
prestigious European federations. Lesser riders, lesser trainers, uncouth
and bourgeois to boot. It is only by repeatedly displaying superior horses,
horsemanship, and yes, winning, that this snobbery will be abated. We’ve
done that and given time, UAE could too. But who wants to wait when he
knows a shortcut to fame and glory? And for UAE, Endurance is that shortcut.
Will FEI be forced to “compromise?” On the reach of the ban, probably yes.
On the UAE’s Endurance discipline? That’s not such a forgone conclusion.
FEI can easily lift the ban on the UAE’s other disciplines and keep the ban
on Endurance based on the fact that the others are Olympic sports and
Endurance is not. If this is the form an FEI “compromise” takes, that would
be good for both the horses and Endurance in the UAE. Clearly the hubris of
the shaikhs has gotten out of control and it is up to them (after all –
they are the real power in UAE Endurance) to clean up their own act. If FEI
continues to cut them off from international competition, they WILL change
how they do business.
Is there is a danger that they will simply learn to cheat less detectably?
Yes, but the good news is that this is not likely. Phishers have been
around for what? 10 years? And they still can’t compose an email longer
than 5 sentences without giving themselves away. In the long run, it will
be easier for the shaikhs to end the outrageous instances of abuse and
cheating and content themselves with nibbling away at the edges, as do all
the disciplines, than to keep their heads in the sand, pretending that no
one can see their bad behavior.
Diane Trefethen
AERC #2691
Truman Prevatt
May 27, 2015, 8:15:08 PM5/27/15
to tr...@wakerobinranch.com, ride...@endurance.net
What I find even more interesting today is when the US indicted some large number of officials of another Swiss non-profit called FIFA, and the Swiss immediately arrested them and extradited them. It seems that every corrupt non-profit in the world is incorporated in Switzerland. FIFA is incorporated in Switzerland, as is the IOC (oh no corruption there) to the FEI. Bottom line the Swiss has not worried about their oversight since they were the bankers of mobsters, drug runners, terrorist - you name it they took their money. That is until now. They have pledge to work with the US to clean up FIFA.
Oh I can just see the wheels turning in the halls of Government of the UAE - issue a warrant against the current officials of the FEI and press the Swiss to enforce it. I am sure the UAE knows where all the skeletons are buried - since Maktoum’s wife probably buried them;-). But they are still the responsibility and problem of the FEI. Oh this so much more interesting to watch. I don’t think the FEI is going to like the outcome. I’m not implying the FEI is corrupt but most of the other big time sports NGO’s incorporated in Switzerland are.
T
“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you” Joseph Heller
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