Dressage-News

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 20, 2019–Ten nations have submitted formal bids to host world championships in 2022, with Italy and Saudi Arabia seeking to stage all seven horse sports governed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) that Thursday reported the bids.

Herning, Denmark bid for dressage, para-dressage and jumping–it organized the same disciplines for the European Championships in 2013–in addition to bids for a complete World Games in Italy at Pratoni del Vivaro and Elementa in Rome and Isola della Scala in Verona, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

All bids will be fully evaluated over summer, the FEI said, and allocation of the 2022 championships made at the the FEI General Assembly in Moscow in November.

The possibility of accepting bids to hold championships of the individual disciplines of dressage and para dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, jumping, reining and vaulting was instituted after the 2018 World Games in Tryon that was a last-minute fill-in for a failed effort by Bromont, Canada.

The all-discipline format has some times run into organizational and financial problems since the first WEG in Stockholm in 1990 with 37 nations participating in six sports. By the time of Tryon, the WEG had grown to 67 nations participating with para dressage and reining added to the lineup of sports.

“The number of formal bids that we’ve received for single and multi-discipline FEI World Championships and full Games is an excellent indication that the interest in the world championships is as strong if not stronger than ever,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said. “We knew that some of the countries that put in expressions of interest back in February were just dipping their toes in the water, but these formal bids are a great validation of the new bidding process and show that we have a really strong product.”

The FEI board decided that multi-discipline bids would be given preference, and that dressage and para dressage should be combined. The world championships in 2022 in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines will serve as qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Games.

The new bid process allowed for sustainable and cost-effective use of existing equestrian sports facilities. The Italian WEG bid fits that criteria as it staged the 1998 Games as a last-minute replacement for a failed bid by Ireland.

The bids as reported by the FEI:

All Disciplines
–Pratoni del Vivaro (Rome), Elementa (Rome) & Isola della Scala (Verona) Italy – World Equestrian Games of all disciplines
–Saudi Equestrian Federation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – World Equestrian Games of ll disciplines

Multi-Discipline
–Dubai Equestrian Club, United Arab Emirates –  Jumping & Endurance
–Herning, Denmark – Dressage, Para Dressage & Jumping
–WestWorld of Scottsdale, Arizona, USA — Reining & Vaulting

Bids for individual disciplines:

Driving
National Stud of Szilvásvárad, Hungary

Endurance
Jazdecký Klub Napoli, Samorin, Slovakia
Stichting Endurancesport, Ermelo, Netherlands
Padise Equestrian Centre, Estonia

Eventing
Millstreet Equestrian Services, Millstreet, Ireland