HSI pulling out all the stops in Aachen case

The director of show jumping for the Federation Equestre International, Capt John Roche, says he has no memory in his almost three decades with the organisation of a ground jury waiving faults accrued by a rider in a situation similar to that experienced by Cian O’Connor last Friday, writes John Tynan.

As has been well documented, a member of the ground crew impeded O’Connor and Good Luck at the European Championships in Aachen, Germany, with the Meath rider knocking the next fence, costing Ireland a place in the Olympics.

A protest to the ground jury failed, with the appeals committee then upholding the finding of the ground jury. Horse Sport Ireland subsequently said every option, up to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), would be considered in seeking justice and it is to meet its lawyers on Wednesday.