Ingrid Klimke and SAP Hale Bob Old celebrating their win at the 2019 FEI Eventing European Championships © Oliver Hardt/Getty Images for FEI
By Equestrian Life
The Swiss district of Avenches has been announced as the new host for this year’s FEI Eventing European Championship in September.
The French venue of Haras du Pin had originally been allocated the 2021 Championship, but it was decided during an FEI Board meeting last week that Switzerland would hold the event instead.
In a statement, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said the change of venues was due to rescheduling this year’s event away from the Olympic Games period.
“The Haras du Pin organisers were, unfortunately, unable to find an alternative date in 2021,” Ms Ibáñez said. “However, they put forward a proposal to the FEI to host the Championships in 2023 and this was agreed by the FEI Board this week. Dates for the Championship in 2023 are yet to be confirmed.”
“We are pleased to have the Swiss venue of Avenches hosting the 2021 Championships. Following last year’s postponement of the Tokyo Games, the FEI had originally cancelled European Championships in all three Olympic and Paralympic disciplines so that the focus could remain on the Games in 2021, but our community encouraged us to review that decision and we listened to those voices.
“After carefully reviewing three strong bids, which also included Boekelo in the Netherlands and Montelibretti in Italy, the FEI Board voted to allocate this year’s FEI Eventing European Championship to Avenches.
“We are happy to be able to give our community something to look forward to during these difficult days as we tackle the EHV-1 outbreak and work to put in place protocols to get our horses and athletes back to competing again.”
The 2021 edition of the FEI Eventing European Championship will run from 23-26 September.
The FEI has also confirmed several other dates and allocations for upcoming events, starting with the FEI Jumping Ponies Trophy Final 2021 to take place in Mechelen, Belgium from 26-30 December.
Kronenberg in the Netherlands will also host the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth Final 2021 from 23-26 September.
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