Last week, The Australian, a daily national newspaper, reported the future of Equestrian in Australia is in “crisis”. This was based on hearing that John Coates, a former International Olympic Committee vice president, had sent an email issuing “a stark warning to the international equestrian authority (FEI) that the future of the sport hangs in the balance.”

The FEI confirmed that its president, Ingmar de Vos, did indeed receive an email about the situation from John Coates, but that there was no indication of a breach of FEI membership requirements.

“FEI Headquarters is assessing the information received from Equestrian Australia, and of course we will monitor the situation,” said a spokesperson for the FEI, “but at first sight this is an EA internal affair. There is no indication at this stage that EA would be in breach of FEI membership requirements.”

While Coates was also quoted by the newspaper as “warning [the FEI] of the crisis it faces and cautioning it against sanctioning any breakaway body that might emerge”, this too was misinformation, with no basis in fact.

Equestrian Australia Chair Judy Fasher clearly stated, “There’s absolutely no move to create another body”.

Fasher emphasised “It’s really important the federation sticks together and we go on together and resolve these differences for the benefit of everyone in the sport.”

Source: Equestrian Australia (EA) website

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