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Fight to keep once-golden equestrians stable
The future of a sport that has delivered Australia 12 Olympic medals, including six golds, is in crisis.
The national authority that runs equestrian sports is facing an internal revolt over rider safety, accusations of conflicts of interest and multiple pending legal actions.
The crisis has prompted Olympics supremo John Coates to issue a stark warning to the international equestrian authority that the future of the sport hangs in the balance.
The internal revolt came to a head last week at Equestrian Australia’s annual general meeting in Sydney when simmering tensions — including over a perceived lack of action to make the sport safer in the wake of the deaths of Olivia Inglis and Caitlyn Fisher in 2016 — caused representatives from five states to call for the resignations of chair Judy Fasher and two directors.
The sport’s elite performance has declined dramatically in the past two decades. Australia’s equestrians failed to win a gold medal in the past four Olympics, a dramatic fall from four gold medals across three Games between 1992 and 2000.
Tensions have also erupted over the installation of three “ineligible” board directors and the body’s controversial and short-lived $50,000 sponsorship deal with Hendra virus vaccine-maker Zoetis.
Mr Coates, a former International Olympic Committee vice-president, emailed the international governing body of the sport last week, warning of the crisis it faces and cautioning it against sanctioning any breakaway body that might emerge from the fighting.
In the email, obtained by The Australian, Mr Coates wrote to the president of the Federation Equestrian Internationale, Ingmar De Vos, on Friday, warning that the sport was facing open revolt as five of the six state branches passed a vote of no confidence amid an alleged move by Ms Fasher, Colin Chantler and David Lindh to launch a rival national federation.
“What I have also just heard is that Judy Fasher and two of her supporters are in discussions with Sport Australia (the old Australian Sports Commission) about winding up the existing Equestrian Australia and establishing a new national federation based around Judy and the others, principally in New South Wales, who support her,” the email reads.
“If you have not already, I am hearing you can expect an approach for approval to cease to recognise Equestrian Australia and recognise this new to be created body as controlling the sport in Australia, which clearly they cannot if five states and one territory equestrian bodies do not support.”
Mr Coates said while it was up to the FEI to determine whether it endorsed a new national federation, he asked Mr De Vos to “tread carefully” and ensure any replacement body represented the best interests of the sport.
But Ms Fasher, who has refused to stand down as chair, denied any motion to split, telling The Australian she was saddened by dissent in EA’s ranks and would await the outcome of a special general meeting to remove her.
“There’s absolutely no move to create another body,” Ms Fasher said. “It’s really important the federation sticks together and we go on together and resolve these differences for the benefit of everyone in the sport.”
EA has 18,500 members, with most of them attached to Equestrian NSW, which did not support the vote of no confidence.
Mr Coates on Sunday reiterated equestrian’s “longstanding and important” sporting tradition in Australia, but warned that internal division was the “last thing” the embattled sport, which receives upwards of $3 million in taxpayer funds each year, needed in the lead-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
EA is grappling with a slew of legal battles and has been named as an intermediary in a $53m class action against Zoetis, which produces a vaccine for the deadly Hendra virus.
The claim alleges Zoetis failed to properly trial and test its vaccine before it was administered to horses in Australia. EA made the vaccine, which has been linked to adverse side-effects, mandatory for all competition horses after a Hendra outbreak in 2012. Other horse sports did not follow suit.
The situation was exacerbated by a $50,000 sponsorship deal between Zoetis and EA, announced at the Easter long weekend.
The partnership was short-lived following vehement objections from members and some state branches.
EA also faces a lawsuit from junior event rider Chelsea Higgins, who sustained a traumatic brain injury after her horse somersaulted over a jump her lawyers claim was not secured properly.
It also faces a coronial inquest into the high-profile deaths of teenage riders Inglis and Fisher.
Sources close to the AGM said the appointment of three “ineligible” directors to the board in October 2015 was another major point of contention behind the move to unseat the chair and two directors.
In a statement to The Australian, the state branch chairs behind the motion said: “The equestrian community is disheartened to be placed in a situation where change was so obvious yet not taken up without unnecessary disruption to our members.”
Article courtesy of Fairfax Digital and The Australian
