An appeal by a jumping barn manager against the FEI’s blanket suspension of the UAE has been dismissed by the FEI Tribunal, having been rendered ‘moot” by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)
When the UAE was suspended for other endurance-related reasons in 2015, non-endurance riders were allowed to continue competing under the neutral FEI flag. But when the UAE was suspended again at the end of September, the FEI decided to ground all disciplines until December 31, and endurance specifically through the end of March. This triggered appeals from individuals in other sports who felt unfairly sanctioned.
The UAE had been sanctioned for running two high-profile 160-km endurance races last winter as CEN (national) rides, with overseas participants far in excess of the allowable numbers.
In November 17, CAS upheld the suspension of all activity, following an action brought by the UAE federation and the race organisers. But while CAS also decided endurance’s suspension should end on December 31, it applied no further reduction to other sports.
Some individuals then withdrew their appeals, but Laura Arkle, manager at the Team Z7 jumping stables in Dubai, wanted to proceed. Team Z7 is registered in the UAE but has riders registered in Britain and Ireland who were not responsible for the incidents causing the suspension. Their business was “profoundly affected,” causing Arkle “significant stress.”
Reduced commercial and sporting opportunities resulted from the block on buying and selling horses, because UAE ownerships could not be transferred during the suspension. There was a “real worry” about Team Z7 horse welfare due to insufficient preparation for the season beginning January 2021.
The Tribunal said that Arkle’s appeal was admissible, but that it had no authority to overturn a decision already handed down by the higher body, CAS.
Each party was ordered to pay their own costs.
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