FEI Cancels Equestrian Events in Russia, Belarus–13 Dressage Competitions, Including Eurasian Championships
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Feb. 28, 2022
The International Equestrian Federation decided Monday to pull approval from 57 equestrian events from Russia and Belarus–including the Eurasian Championships for both youth and seniors that was scheduled for Moscow in July.
A grant of one million Swiss francs/US$1.080 million/€958,000 was also approved for the Ukraine equestrian community.
An FEI announcement on the decision by the executive board did not mention whether teams or individuals from the two nations would be allowed to compete outside Russia or Belarus, including the world championships of dressage, jumping, para dressage and vaulting at Herning, Denmark in August.
The decision by the FEI came after the International Olympic Committee last week urged international sports federations to cancel or relocate events from Russia and Belarus.
The FEI calendar from Mar. 1 to Dec. 31 lists 51 equestrian events in Russia and six in Belarus. Of those in Russia 11 are for dressage and two dressage competitions in Belarus.
The Eurasian Championships are for multiple disciplines and with children, junior, young riders and seniors in dressage in Moscow July 14-24.
It is not known how the war will impact equestrian events in nations near the conflict.
Among them is the World Cup in Motecise, Slovakia Mar. 11-13 the same weekend as a qualifier in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. The two events are the last opportunities for riders in Europe to seek a start at the Final in Leipzig, Germany April 6-10 following two years that the global championships were canceled because of coronavirus and the outbreak of equine herpes virus in Europe last winter.
