During the meeting on March 30th held between the FEI and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, where the FEI was represented by its two Vice Presidents, John McEwen and Pablo Mayorga, and FEI Secretary General Ingmar De Vos, some additional but significant points were discussed to create a more equitable field of play and enhance the integrity of the Endurance discipline.
During these discussions, HH Sheikh Mohammed pointed out to the FEI that Meydan is the regulator in Dubai for various equine related matters and that so long as it remains a regulator it would be prudent for it to withdraw its sponsorship of the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™. Consequently Meydan will withdraw its sponsorship from the 2014 Alltech World Equestrian Games™.
Separately, and in order not to disadvantage the Organising Committee of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ and ensure all financial obligations are met, the FEI Commercial Department has worked with the office of HH Sheikh Mohammed to secure a new sponsor to replace Meydan at the 2014 Games. SOBHA Group, a multinational, multiproduct group headquartered in Bangalore, India with significant developments and investments in India, UAE, Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Brunei and Tanzania has offered to take over the sponsorship, which matches its global marketing objectives, and assume all of the obligations of Meydan.
The acceptance of SOBHA as a replacement for Meydan will be considered for formal approval by the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ Board next week on Thursday 17 April 2014.
Meydan will however sponsor the work of the FEI Endurance Task Force to enable it to create and implement the technical solutions necessary to ensure fairness on the field of play at the 2014 Games in Normandy and beyond. This sponsorship complements its current role as an equine regulator. HH Sheikh Mohammed has also confirmed that he will facilitate through the FEI Commercial Department the provision of onsite hospitality facilities during the Endurance competition day in Normandy so that all athletes can benefit from equal facilities.
On a related matter, during the Endurance Conference in Lausanne in February chaired by FEI 1st Vice President John McEwen, it was also highlighted that commercial activities and sport need to be clearly and formally separated. For this reason, the Technical Committee and the Endurance Sports Department cannot be involved in any commercial activities and transactions and this will now be the sole responsibility of the FEI Commercial Department led by Lisa Lazarus.
With regard to the officials, the FEI Secretary General has already made it clear to the organisers of Endurance Events that the officials need to be informed about the conditions such as accommodation, transport, per diems and reimbursement of costs prior to the competition and that payments can only be made by the Organising Committee. Additionally, the FEI will look at the possibility of centralising these payments made by the Organising Committee of reimbursement of expenses and per diems in order to guarantee equal treatment of officials and to preserve their integrity.
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