Show jumping awaits competition body ruling

Just in time for Christmas, the Belgian Competition Authority lobbed an unwelcome ‘present’ at both equestrian sport’s world governing body, the FEI, and the privately run Global Champions Tour/Global Champions League (GCT/GCL).

It ordered a month-long suspension of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties.

Among other things, the agreement allowed for a reduction in the number of invitations that had to be issued to riders in GCT/GCL-organised events based on their world rankings. The standard percentage of such invitations is 60%, but the GCT/GCL events were allowed a much smaller number, effectively not much more than half that figure. This enabled the GCT/GCL to profit from a greater number of paid-for entries.