THE FEI has removed all international equestrian events in Russia and Belarus from the 2022 FEI calendar and has prohibited the participation of all Russian and Belarusian athletes, horses and officials in international events.

The move came at a Board meeting early this week when the FEI condemned the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces and the support provided by the government of Belarus.

The prohibition comes into effect as of midnight on Sunday, March 6th so events already in progress were not disrupted. The resolution also prohibits, with immediate effect, the display of Russian and Belarusian flags, or their anthems played at, or in connection with, any FEI events.

The Executive Board also approved the allocation of a CHF 1 million (€983,153) FEI Solidarity Relief Fund for the equestrian community in Ukraine, while the board unanimously agreed to freeze all FEI Solidarity and development activities and to cancel or relocate FEI courses for officials scheduled to be held in Russia and Belarus in 2022.

FEI President and Chair of the FEI Solidarity Committee Ingmar De Vos said: “We are deeply concerned for the welfare of all Ukrainians and the entire equestrian community in Ukraine. Their safety is very much our priority, and we are liaising closely with our key contacts in Ukraine and neighbouring countries to seek solutions to their most pressing needs.

“It is regrettable that the FEI has needed to take such severe measures, but we need to ensure the safety, integrity and fairness of FEI competitions during these difficult times. We sincerely hope that a peaceful solution can be found as soon as possible.”

Stallions stuck

The Ukranian Equestrian Federation reports there are more than 100,000 horses in Ukraine and among them are two of the most popular breeding stallions in the world – Comme il Faut and his father, Cornet Obolensky. The stallions are currently in Ukraine at their owner’s stud Gestüt Zhashkiv, some 150km south of Kyiv.

Comme il Faut was reportedly due to travel back to Germany for the breeding season the day after the war broke out. The German stud due to stand the stallion, Hengststation-Vornholt, has issued a notice to say he is not available for breeding due to the situation in Ukraine. A press query to Gestüt Zhashkiv was not answered at the time of going to press.

The Ukraine have 29 FEI-registered athletes for 22, and 43 registered horses. They are due to have 25 FEI events this year. Ukraine had a first ever show jumping team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Bejing, and were represented at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

They qualified for Tokyo 2020 when winning the qualifier in Budapest, Hungary, but lost their place when only one rider René Tebbel (who originally rode for Germany) achieve the minimum entry requirement for an Olympic Games. Many of the leading show jumpers riding for the Ukraine were originally from another federation and switched to ride for the country and are based outside of Ukraine.

Emotional

The General Secretary of the Ukraine Equestrian Federation, Mykhaylo Parkhomchuk, released an emotional statement on Wednesday following the establishment of the Ukrainian Equestrian Federation Charity Foundation.

He said: “At this time, I am in Belgium and I am engaged in the opening of a charity fund with the help of the Ukrainian Equestrian Community. Tomorrow I’m going to Ukraine with a horse truck with humanitarian cargo. On my way back I will evacuate several horses to Poland. Because of the military state, Ukrainian men do not have the chance to leave Ukraine. Therefore, drivers will be either Ukrainian women or foreigners.

“I want to try to make an agreement with the owners of the Lesna Wola horse club in Rzeszow (Poland) to make it the hub for a humanitarian mission (admission of horses from Ukraine for the first time). For the past 20 years, we have been making a stop there when taking horses to Europe or Ukraine. By the end of the week, I hope we have a full understanding of how to act.”

OFI calls for committee ban

The Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) welcomed the decisive action taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to prohibit athletes but also called for them to consider the further step of an outright ban of the Russian and Belarussian National Olympic Committees.

A press release from the OFI said: “The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and Belarus, besides being a flagrant breach of international law, is a breach of the Olympic truce which was agreed as part of the UN resolution of December 2021 and warrants a decisive response from all parts of the Olympic community.”

For the agriculture sector, fears are growing over the cost and availability of feed and fertiliser. The Irish Farmers Journal reports that fertiliser supply for April will be difficult as orders from Russia have been cancelled, while shipments in transit cannot be paid for due to financial sanctions imposed.

Russia is responsible for over 20% of the global fertiliser production, while Ukraine is the European Union’s fourth biggest external food supplier.