Global Champions League, the governing body associated with the Longines Global Champions Tour, has lodged a formal complaint with the European Union against the Fédération Equestre Internationale alleging the FEI breached the EU’s competition laws.
The FEI rule in question states that riders, horses and show officials may not participate in non-FEI events six months prior to participating in an FEI event.
That rule, GR113, states: “An athlete and/or horse, even if registered with the FEI, is not eligible to participate in an international event or national event (and so may not be invited by an [organizing committee] to such event or entered by a NF in such event) if that athlete and/or horse has participated, in the six months prior to the first day of the international event or national event in question, in an unsanctioned event.”
The rulebook further defines an unsanctioned event as “an event and/or a competition that is neither published in the official calendar nor authorized by a NF.” The GCL is alleging such a rule violates the EU’s competition law by effectively giving the FEI a monopoly over hosting all international show jumping events, thereby allegedly it’s abusing its privileges as the governing body of the sport.
The complaint is the culmination of attempts by the GCL to get FEI approval for a new format of competition. The GCL stated in a press release regarding the complaint that it would like to host, in conjunction with existing GCT competitions, a team event. The format of the team event would consist of four horse and rider pairs competing throughout the year at GCT competitions, with two of the pairs being selected for each tour stop.
GCL claims the FEI has not responded to their request for approval for the team format in a timely manner, as the GCT had originally planned on hosting the new team competitions beginning this year. The GCL claims it was a combination of the allegedly delayed FEI sanctioning and the exclusivity rule that prompted it to seek legal action.
ADVERTISEMENT
The GCL also mentions in a press release regarding its complaint that the FEI “acts both as the governing body of the sport, setting the rules for all competitions, while also running its own commercial show jumping events in competition with other organizations it governs.”
“It is with regret that the FEI has left us with no choice but to resort to legal action as has been the case in other sports in similar situations to overturn anti-competitive practices,” said GCT president Jan Tops in the press release.
In response to inquiries from the Chronicle regarding the complaint, FEI secretary general Sabrina Zeender stated the following: “We received notification that there has been a complaint lodged and requested the full details of the complaint. The full details were received this week, and we have not yet had the opportunity to review them in full. The Global Champions Tour is one of a number of series that has been approved by the FEI. One of the roles of the FEI as the world governing body of equestrian sport is to make sure that the rules are fair and in the interests of the sport. We always apply strict neutrality, and the board of the FEI is competent to approve series in a very fair and transparent way.”
Addressing the exclusivity rule more explicitly, an FEI spokesperson stated the following to the Chronicle: “Unsanctioned events are not subject to FEI regulations, and their organizers and participants are not accountable to the FEI for compliance with such regulations. As a result, the FEI has no way of safeguarding the welfare of horses and athletes participating in such events, or of protecting the integrity of the events. The same may be true at the national level if a national event is conducted outside national rules and notwithstanding the express objection of the national federation.”
The Global Champions League was founded in 2006 by Jan Tops, a former show jumping rider who represented the Netherlands at the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain. The GCL invites the top 30 FEI-ranked show jumping riders to 15 different tour stops throughout the year.
