12
November 2003
- Judicial Committee decides on Rusty
- FEI World Cup Jumping Verona
- FEI World Cup Dressage next event in Berlin
- Preview CSI 4* Paris
- FEI World Cup Eventing
- 2006 World Equestrian Games press conference
- Trophy Maroc Equestre
FEI
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECIDES ON RUSTY
The Judicial Committee of the FEI has today issued its decision in the medication
control case involving the horse Rusty 47 and the rider, UllaSalzgeber (GER)
(the "PR"), submitted to the Judicial Committee for decisionon October
23 2003. The complete decision of the Judicial Committee was submitted to
the parties and shall be published in due course. The PR has 30
days to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
Rusty 47 was selected for sampling at CDI-W Final Göteborg (SWE) on 28
March 2003. Analysis of the urine and blood conducted by LAB, the FEI's approved
central laboratory, revealed the presence of Testosterone above the threshold
level. A confirmatory analysis has not been requested.
Testosterone is the principal endogenous androgenic-anabolic steroid in horses
and men. It is used for therapeutic purposes but can also be abused.Testosterone
is a prohibited substance pursuant to Article 1013 and Annex IV of the Veterinary
Regulations of the FEI.
The evidence revealed that 13 days before the start of CDI-W Final Göteborg,the
PR's veterinarian had administered RUSTY 47 25 mg Testosterone Propionate
to treat an assumed hormonal imbalance in Rusty that may have caused patchy
hair loss. The veterinarian had not made this fact known to either the veterinarian
of the German NF or to the PR. The Judicial
Committee accepts that the PR did no know that Rusty 47 had undergone any
treatment prior to the event.
The Judicial Committee is satisfied that the complete LAB reports supported
by the evidence of the Director of the Drug Surveillance Group at HFL Newmarket
reflect that the tests were accurately performed in an acceptable method and
that the findings of LAB are accurate and show the presence of the prohibited
substance, Testosterone, at a level which exceeds the
threshold level for geldings of 20 ng/ml.
The Judicial Committee is also satisfied that the internationally acknowledged
threshold levels for Testosterone in geldings and mares as established by
the international racing authorities and adopted by the FEI Veterinary Committee
for FEI events and included in the FEI Veterinary
Regulations since 1988 are supported by analytical research and were not arbitrarily
established.
The Judicial Committee determines that the various minor procedural irregularities
highlighted by the PR's counsel cannot reasonably be considered to have affected
the results of what is a valid test and should, therefore, only be taken into
consideration in the determination of the sanctions and imposition of costs.
The Judicial Committee determines that the PR has not taken any intentional
action to deliberately affect the performance of the horse. The PR had established
a system that was supposed to make treatments transparent and disclosed. According
to the PRs statements, the PR's Veterinarian has not followed such procedures
in the present case. There is no evidence in this
case that the PR had actual knowledge of the treatment given to Rusty 47 by
her veterinarian. There is also no evidence that Rusty received a specific
competitive advantage as a result of the administration of the prohibited
substance which - according to the PR's vet - was connected to a legitimate
medical procedure.
Nevertheless, the PR has failed to ensure that Rusty has no prohibited substances
in its systems during an international event. Since this is a strict liability
offense that does not require intent or even specific knowledge, the PR did
not comply with General Regulations Art. 146 and RUSTY
47 with its rider, Ulla Salzgeber, must be disqualified from the event and
that all prizes and prize money won at the event must be forfeited in accordance
with GR 174.7.1.
The FEI has a strict liability policy or no-fault system which means that
no intention is required in order to establish a doping offence. The mere
presence of a prohibited substance in the horse's systems is sufficient. Additionally,
The FEI is not required to demonstrate any competitive
advantage to the PR resulting from the presence of the drug. The intent and
competitive advantage issues are only taken into consideration in the determination
of the sanctions to be imposed. This system of strict liability has been reconfirmed
time and again and it must prevail when sporting fairness to all competitors
is at stake.
Under the FEI judicial system the competitor, as the person responsible, is
responsible for all matters relating to his or her mount, including competing
on horses which are "drug free". It is similarly the responsibility
of competitors to inform themselves of all substances fed or
administered to horses which are destined for participation in international
events and to ensure that such horses do not have any prohibited substances
in their systems or that such treatments are disclosed prior to the start
of the competition and authorized in advance.
Competitors should, therefore, seek information and should discuss all treatments
with owners, veterinarians and other caretakers of all horses which are destined
for participation in international events in order to avoid contravening FEI
rules and regulations. Procedures aimed at ensuring
that such information is fully disclosed must be established by all competitors
and the expectation is that competitors that compete at the highest levels
of the sport should have an established system that would prevent even an
inadvertent unauthorized medication of a horse participating
in international events.
The Judicial Committee does take into account the facts that the PR did not
have actual knowledge of the treatment, did establish a mechanism to learn
ahead of international events regarding such treatments, did not clearly obtain
competitive advantage, has a blameless record as an international rider and
the hardship caused to the PR as a result of the delays and procedural mistakes
and therefore determines that there should be no suspension in this case despite
the type of drug and its grade. In accordance with General Regulations Art.
174.7.3 the Person Responsible is fined CHF 2,500.-
The Judicial Committee has taken into consideration the incomplete documentation
initially provided to PR's counsel and has limited the costs payable to the
FEI by the PR towards the costs of the judicial procedure, in accordance with
General Regulations Art. 174.12, to CHF 1,000.-.
It should be emphasized that, in deciding against the PR and imposing the
penalties, the Judicial Committee is not claiming that the PR knew about the
treatment, authorized it or received any advantage as a result thereof. Therefore,
the PR's prominent reputation must stay unaffected. Nevertheless, this case
should again emphasize the vital importance of medication control
and the need for all caretakers to be conservative in their assessments and
more importantly to report to the PR all treatments and allow the PR to make
the required determination whether to enter the horse in an international
event or request an authorization to compete despite a prior treatment. This
is the system established by the FEI which is aimed at establishing fair and
equal conditions for competitors.
FEI
WORLD CUP JUMPING
VICTORY AT VERONA FOR NIEBERG
LANSINK NOW CHALLENGES FOR WORLD CUP SERIES LEAD
Germany's Lars Nieberg stood on the winners podium at the third leg of the
FEI World Cup series in Verona today after a perfectly-measured victory with
Loreana earned him the maximum 20 points.
However Belgium's Jos Lansink, who slotted into third place with a double-clear
from AK Caridor Z, is now stalking league leader Eric Van der Vleuten as he
lies just one point behind on the leaderboard.
Van der Vleuten did not travel to Verona so this left the door wide open,
particularly for Robert Smith who had been lying in second position, but despite
excellent results for the British rider during the early stages of the Italian
fixture he failed to capitalise on his win in Oslo when lowering
two fences in the opening round today with Marius Claudius.
Course-designer Olaf Petersen set them a tough first-round test, and the line
from fences four to six proved consistently difficult. Many of the horses
disliked the look of the half-moon wall at fence four and stood off it, consequently
struggling to make the distances to the next two fences.
Just six riders went through to the jump-off and Jos Lansink led the way with
a careful clear to set the target in 46.65 seconds. Reynald Angot then followed
for France with Dollar de la Pierre, shaving almost seven seconds of that
when returning clear in 39.09 seconds.
America's Peter Wylde and Lauriston had two fences down at their second attempt
while Germany's Marco Kutscher and Montender made just a single mistake but
Lars Nieberg and Loreana never touched a pole as they galloped home in 37.47
seconds to snatch the lead.
"Reynald had been very fast and I knew that Rodrigo was following me
so I had to be very quick" Lars said afterwards. Few riders like to be
followed into the ring by Rodrigo Pessoa but the 14 year old Baloubet du Rouet,
winner of Friday's Preliminary competition, left two fences on the floor and
the Brazilian ace had to settle for fifth place ahead of Wylde while Kutscher
slotted into fourth, Lansink into third and Angot took runner-up position.
The Verona result brings some significant changes to the FEI World Cup leaderboard
as Lars slots into fifth position behind Robert Smith who has dropped to fourth.
Marco Kutscher earned 13 additional points to promote himself from equal-10th
up to third position while Jos Lansink is now just one point behind Eric Van
der Vleuten with a total of 32 points to date.
The action now moves to Berlin next weekend, and Lars is hoping to consolidate
his position with another good performance on his home ground.
www.reitturnier-chi-berlin.de.
RESULT: 1, Loreana (Lars Nieberg) Ger 0/0 37.47; 2, Dollar de la Pierre
(Reynald Angot) Fra 0/0; 3, AK Caridor Z (Jos Lansink) Bel 0/0 46.65; 4,
Montender (Marco Kutscher) Ger 0/4 38.72; 5, Baloubet du Rouet (Rodrigo
Pessoa) Bra 0/8 38.80; 6, Lauriston (Peter Wylde) USA 0/8 40.02; Equal 7,
Non Plus Ultra (Antonis Petris) Gre 4, Jamiro (Rolf Goran Bengtsson) Swe 4,
Clinton (Dirk Demeersman) Bel 4, Arko (Nick Skelton) GB 4, Albin 111 (Juan
Carlos Garcia) Ita 4, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 4, Dobel's
Cento (Otto Becker) Ger 4, De Sjiem (Jeroen Dubbeldam) Hol 4, Pro Pilot 11
(Edouard Couperie) Fra 4, Camirez B (Toni Hassmann) Ger 4.
THE
TOP-TEN ON THE LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 3 AT VERONA:
Eric Van der Vleuten - 33
Jos Lansink - 32
Marco Kutscher - 25
Robert Smith - 21
Lars Nieberg - 20
Jeroen Dubbeldam - 19
Malin Baryard - 18
Eq. 8. Helena Weinberg / Reynald Angot - 17
Eq. 10. Richard Davenport / Bruno Broucqsault - 15.
PREVIEW INTERNATIONAL SHOW JUMPING OF PARIS
The International Show Jumping of Paris, one of France's only two four-star
indoor Jumping events, will take place from 28 to 30 November. Some 110 horses
and riders representing some 12 nations will gather in the French capital
to take part in Against the Clock, Two-Phase, Gradual Difficulties and Grand
Prix competitions the prize-money for which is no less than EUR
182 940.
This year's show, placed under the patronage of Caroline of Hanover and her
daughter Charlotte Casiraghi, both of whom are keen riders, will go beyond
the mere sports performance. On Sunday 30 November, 12 autistic children,
aged between 5 and 8 and assisted in their physical and educational development
by local associations, will take part in the opening of the
Grand Prix wearing the colours of the attending nations. They will make their
entrance on horseback. Each child will be supported by an international rider.
This exhibition is organised in order to raise public awareness about horse-riding
as a way for children and adults suffering from
development handicaps and neurological troubles to improve their mobility,
their communication skills and understanding of the three-dimensional space.The
public will be encouraged to make donations at the end of the show.
FEI WORLD CUP DRESSAGE
The first World Cup Dressage of the Western European League will take place
this week-end in Berlin (GER).
Website Berlin CDI-W : www.reitturnier-chi-berlin.de.
POLISH RIDER ANDRZEJ PASEK WINS FIRST LEG OF 2004 FEI EVENTING WORLD CUP
IN NIC HELINO (ITA)
Poland's Andrzej Pasek, 29, won the opening leg of the FEI Eventing World
Cup's second season riding the 9-year old chestnut gelding Redan (owned by
Erika Ratti). Despite the heavy rain, deep mud and generally appalling weather
conditions, he took the lead from the very beginning scoring aremarkable 39.10
points (73.91%) after Dressage. He went clear in Jumping
and had neither fence nor time penalties in the Cross Country. This performance
is all the more remarkable as Pasek placed 2nd in the two-star event riding
Bujwid delle Ombre. Andrzej, who currently trains in Italy preparing for next
year's Olympic Games in Athens, is a regular visitor at
Nichelino, where he competed last year placing 18th in the World Cup class
and winning the two-star competition.
Second on the winners' podium is Marie Christine Duroy of France, riding the
13-old gelding Selle-Français Crazy Love and who, like Pasek, added
to further penalties to the 43.40 points she had earned after Dressage (71.09%).
Marie Christine is one of the world's most experienced Eventing riders who
has been competing for over 30 years and was on the French team which
took the 4th place at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Italy's own Fabio Magni on Loro Piana Vent d'Arade and Marissa Cortesi of
Switzerland on Peppermint III came in equal 3rds with 49.60. Magni, currently
74th of the FEI Eventing Riders' Rankings, is Italy's reigning national champion
and Marissa won the same title in her country in 2000 and 2001.
The remarkable result (51.50) of the Japanese rider Yoshiaki Oiwa, 27, on
Voyou du Roc should be given special notice. With 7 min 25 he performed the
competition's second best Cross Country, 0.4 seconds better than the winner,
and scored a clear Jumping round. This is Oiwa's best result ever in a three-star
competition.
47 of the 70 starters completed the competition.
The next qualifier of the FEI Eventing World Cup will take place from 12 through
14 March 2004 at Tallahassee, FL (USA).
2006 FEI
WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES
1000-day countdown
On 26 November, the 1000-day countdown will start for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian
Games in Aachen (GER) which will take place from 22 August to 3 September
2006. On this occasion, a press conference will be organised at 18:30 in the
"Klangbrücke des Alten Kurshauses" in Aachen to present the
sports programme, the planned building measures and the financial aspects
of the project. The German Federal Minister of Interior, Mr Otto Schily will
be
in attendance.
4TH TROPHY OF MAROC EQUESTRE
The Moroccan Magazine "Maroc Equestre" is organising a Gala evening
on 19 November 2003 at the Hotel Hilton of Rabat (MAR). The best riders and
horses of Morocco will be awarded during a ceremony that will be chaired by
HRH Princess Lalla Amina, President of the Royal Equestrian Federation of
Morocco.
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Muriel Faienza, FEI Communications
FEDERATION EQUESTRE INTERNATIONALE
