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APPENDIX J – Rationale for the Unsanctioned Events
Provisions

1. The primary mission of the FEI, as the world governing body of equestrian sport, is ‘to
advance the orderly growth of equestrian sport worldwide by promoting, administering and
regulating humane and sportsmanlike international competition in the traditional equestrian
Disciplines’.

2. At the core of that mission are the following two fundamental principles:

2.1 In each equestrian Discipline, the welfare of the Horse must be the paramount
consideration at all times. It must never, in any circumstances, be subordinated to
competitive or commercial considerations.

2.2 Equestrian sport depends, for its credibility, on public acceptance derived from the
integrity of its competitions. Behind this precept lies the premise that the best Athletes
should win fairly and squarely, having competed under even and equitable conditions and
under Rules that are themselves fair, realistic, and applied with scrupulous competence and
even-handedness. No result can be meaningful or valid if it has not been achieved on a level
playing-field.

3. The FEI can only protect and promote those two principles by putting in place detailed
Regulations protecting Horse welfare and competition integrity (such as the FEI Code of
Conduct for the Welfare of the Horse, the FEI Veterinary Regulations, and the FEI Equine
Controlled Medication Rules) and the integrity of Competition (such as the FEI Anti-Doping
Rules For Human Athletes and the FEI Equine Anti-Doping and Control Medications
Regulations and the FEI Code On The Prevention Of The Manipulation Of Competitions and
by making acceptance of International Events into the official Calendar conditional upon the
Organiser adopting all of those Regulations and making them binding on all participants in
those Events. Only by these means can the FEI ensure the uniform application of the
necessary Regulations in all International Events, and hold all Event Organisers and
participants accountable under those Regulations for conducting themselves in a manner
that protects the safety and integrity of the sport.

4. In recent years, equestrian sport has seen an increase in the number of events being
promoted by private entrepreneurs who avoid regulation by and accountability to the FEI by
organising their events outside of the official Calendar. Such Unsanctioned Events threaten
to undermine the FEI’s ability to achieve its mission in the following ways:

4.1 The core purpose of the official Calendar to ensure that undue demands are not
placed on Horses or Athletes participating in International Events. Unsanctioned events
circumvent (and so undermine) those protections.

4.2 Unsanctioned Events are not subject to FEI Regulations, and their organisers 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 even in circumstances where
the National Federation expressly objected.

4.3 This presents a risk of great harm to the sport both directly (through physical harm
to Horses and Athletes participating in Unsanctioned Events) and indirectly (by undermining
public confidence in the ability of the FEI to protect the safety and integrity of the sport).
The public is unlikely to appreciate fully the distinction between sanctioned and Unsanctioned
Events, and so if problems occur in Unsanctioned Events the image of the entire sport will
suffer, and public confidence in the ability of the FEI to maintain the integrity of the sport
and to protect the welfare of its participants will be undermined, to the great detriment of
the sport as a whole.

5. The FEI recognises the need to be proportionate in its regulation of the sport, and in
particular to intervene no further than is necessary to protect the sporting imperatives
identified above.

Therefore:

5.1 The Unsanctioned Event provisions do not prevent Athletes or Officials participating
in Unsanctioned Events, or Owners entering their Horses in Unsanctioned Events, if they so

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