Numerous top riders, including Steve Guerdat and Kevin Staut, have voiced their opinion over whether the FEI’s proposed invitational and ranking rules are swung in favour of riders with great financial resources.
The FEI’s 2018 rule proposals state that for regular CSI5* shows, a 60-20-20 rules would be in place; that is, 60% of riders come from the Longines rankings in descending order, 20% are selected by the host nation and 20% are made up of invitations made by the organising committee. This ensures the majority of riders are invited to shows based on the merit of their past performances — a good thing.
However, in the FEI proposal some shows are exempt from these rules — and this is where the controversy lies. Top-level commercial shows, such as Longines Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League (where rankings points can still be collected), would be exempt from the 60-20-20 rule. At these shows, only 30% of the riders are picked from the ranking list and the rest are riders who have to be part of a team — which can cost €2 million a year. This is where the perceived ‘pay to ride’ controversy has arisen.
The issue is that this paves the way for competitors to ‘buy in’ to these big commercial events with easier access to the most rankings points. This in turn could influence selection for events such as the Olympics.
See what some of the world’s top riders have to say on the issue below:
