The Dressage Calendar Task Force, one of the eight discipline-specific task forces created by the FEI to evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the FEI Calendar and propose ways of mitigating its effects, held its first meeting via videoconference on April 16, 2020.
The meeting was chaired by FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez, who has overall responsibility for the FEI Calendar and who is chairing each of the discipline Task Forces. Jumping was the first of the Calendar Task Forces to meet online on 2 April.
The members who joined yesterday’s Dressage teleconference call were FEI Vice Presidents Mark Samuel (CAN) and Jack Huang (TPE), Chair of the FEI Dressage Committee Frank Kemperman (NED), European Equestrian Federation Vice President Ulf Helgstrand (DEN), Dressage Athletes’ Representative Beatriz Ferrer-Salat (ESP) and Thomas Baur (GER), representative of the International Equestrian Organisers Association. The FEI Dressage Director, FEI Calendar Administrator and representatives of the FEI IT, Legal and Governance departments were also on the call.
The main topics discussed by the group included:
- Deadlines for National Federations to come back to the FEI with proposed alternative dates for Events looking to reschedule in 2020
- Rules relating to date clashes and late-date/date change applications
- Prioritising all CDIOs
- Dressage Championships in 2020 and 2021
- FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ series 2020 and the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2021
- Initiatives to help Organisers
The proposals from the Dressage Calendar Task Force will now go to the FEI Board for consideration. The Board has already tasked each of the Calendar Task Forces to look into the impact of the requested date changes on the existing Events in the Calendar and to provide proposed solutions to the FEI Secretary General and the Board.
The FEI President is being kept fully updated on the work of each of the Task Forces and, where required, will assist in finalising proposals to be put forward to the FEI Board for approval.
The principles agreed by the Board after the first Jumping Calendar Task Force meeting at the beginning of the month have been shared with the other seven Task Forces that will evaluate the impact of the virus on the FEI Calendar for their discipline. Each of these Task Forces consists of the core group plus the Chair of the relevant Technical Committee, a representative of the Athletes and the FEI Sports Director of the specific discipline.
Meeting dates for each of the Calendar Task Forces are now confirmed:
20 April – Joint Task Force meeting for Driving, Vaulting and Reining, specifically to discuss FEI European Championships for Youth and Seniors in 2020 and 2021, which is the most pressing calendar issue. Following this, separate meetings will be held with each discipline Task Force to review potential date clash issues.
22 April – Jumping (2nd Task Force meeting)
24 April – Eventing
28 April – Dressage (2nd meeting)
29 April – Endurance
30 April – Para Dressage
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