Federation Equestre Internationale News 20 August 2002

- Samsung Nations Cup Final
- FEI Delegation to Aachen
- FEI Gandini Top Ten Final
- Central European Driving Challenge
- Central EU NFs Meeting
- 2002 WEG nominated entries on FEI website

SAMSUNG NATIONS CUP FINAL
Donaueschingen (GER), 24 August 2002

The following eight teams will compete for the 2002 title:

Belgium
Marc van Duck, Jos Lansink, Philippe Lejeune, Ludo Philippaerts

Germany
Otto Becker, Ludger Beerbaum, Marcus Ehning, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Sören von Rönne

France
Reynald Angot, Eric Levallois, Ludovic Leygue, Eric Navet

Italy
Bruno Chimirri, Vincenzo Chimirri, Gianni Govoni, Jerry Smit

Netherlands
Leopold van Asten, Emile Hendrix, Marc Houtzager, Piet Raymakers, Ben Schroder, Alber Zoer

Sweden
Malin Baryard, Peter Eriksson, Maria Gretzer, Helena Lundbäck, Royne Zetterman

Switzerland
Paul Freimüller, Markus Fuchs, Beat Mändle, Leslie McNaught

USA
Molly Ashe, Leslie Howard, Beezie Madden, Nicole Shahinian-Simpson, Peter Wylde.

Further to the withdrawal of the Irish Team, Switzerland will participate in the Final.

For more information, visit www.chi-donaueschingen.de

Programme

The Parade of the participants will take place at 1.30 pm, followed by the first round at 14:00. The second round will start at 15:25.

The Samsung Nations Cup World Final will be broadcasted on Saturday from 3.15 - 4.45 pm on SWR3. (On Sunday, the Grand Prix will be covered also
on SWR 3 from 4.15 - 5.15 pm) Eurosport will feature the final next week.

Samsung Electronics has supported sports marketing activities world-wide with a strong initiative in equestrian sports since 1988. In 1996 Samsung took the world-wide sponsorship of the Nations Cup in cooperation with the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), the ruling body of the world-wide equestrian sport.

Samsung DIGITall, everyone's invited

For further information about the Samsung Nations Cup Series or other sports marketing activities, visit:
http://www.samsungnationscup.com or http://www.samsungelectronics.com


FEI DELEGATION VISIT TO AACHEN (GER)

A delegation of the FEI composed of Wayne Roycroft (AUS), Mike Etherington-Smith, respectively Chairman and member of the Eventing Committee and Michael Stone, FEI Sports Director will pay a visit to Aachen on 21 August 2002. The purpose of the meeting is the assessment of Aachen's proposed facilities for Eventing included in their bid to host the 2006 World Equestrian Games.

Both Aachen and Kentucky (USA) are bidding to host the 2006 World Equestrian Games. A decision on the allocation of the 2006 World Equestrian Games is expected before the 2002 WEG in Jerez next September.


FEI GANDINI TOP TEN FINAL

The 30 November edition of the FEI/Gandini World Riders Rankings will decide on the participation field of the Final of the Top Ten to be held in Geneva on 14 December.

The International Jumping Riders Club is currently working on the formula of the Final, which will be published after the World Equestrian Games.

Visit Geneva CSI-W website www.concours-hippique.ch


MEETING OF THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN NATIONAL FEDERATIONS IN BRATISLAVA

The annual meeting of the Central European NFs was held early August 2002 in Bratislava. The Central European NFs decided to hold a yearly meeting as of 1989, mainly to discuss World Cup matters.

In addition to the discussion on the newly created Central European Driving Challenge, the meeting mainly concentrated on the World Cup Jumping.

For administrative reasons, and also to facilitate the invitations to CSIOs, it was agreed that it would be helpful if the Central European League (with its long stretch from Estonia to Turkey) was divided into three sub-leagues, as follows:

North: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova
Middle: Poland, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia.
South: Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey.

There will still be an overall league standing for the qualification to the World Cup Final.

Considerable discussions centred on the wish to have more Indoor events in the Central European League. It was agreed that the summer events can be outdoors, but as a more concentrated block, i.e. earliest from mid June to early October. The goal will be to establish several Indoor events, all to be held ultimately during spring, i.e. February to March. Warsaw and possibly Poznan, both in Poland, will be the first indoors to be held in spring as from 2004.

The frequent long waiting times at border crossings are of particular concern to the Central European NFs. The FEI will, in cooperation with the NF concerned, tackle the issue once more.


CENTRAL EUROPEAN DRIVING CHALLENGE

A pilot project to promote International Driving competitions outside of Western Europe will start in 2003: the Central European Driving Challenge.

In view of the considerable costs of transporting horses and carriages to international events it was felt to be more beneficial to concentrate on supporting increased regional activities.

In Central Europe, the countries interested in Driving are invited to organise international events and to send their drivers to events outside of their country. The FEI's development department will contribute to the travel costs and possibly also give some support to Organising Committees.

The CAIs are asked to held competitions for singles, pairs and teams. A full participation by a NF consists of two singles, two pairs and one team - all horses. A NF sending less than the full contingent will have less chance to earn Challenge points, but is still eligible for the annual Final standings.

The winner of the Central European Driving Challenge is the NF with the most points.

A meeting with the interested NFs of Central Europe was held early August in Bratislava, where the idea was enthusiastically received and the framework of the calendar 2003 was established.


CALENDAR CHANGES

2003 World Pairs Driving Championship

At the request of the French Equestrian Federation, the FEI authorised the change of date and location of the 2003 World Pairs Driving Championship, due to take place in Versailles (FRA) in June. The Championship will take place in Jardy (FRA) from 18 to 21 September.

2003 World Combined Pony Driving Championships

Further to the withdrawal of Saumur (FRA), the World Combined Pony Driving Championship will take place in Karlstetten (AUT) from 14 to 17 August 2003.

WEG 2002 IN JEREZ

The Nominated Entries are published on the FEI website, section reference, working docs, various http://www.horsesport.org/fei/reference/reference_05/ref_05_04.html

The deadline for nominated entries is 1 September 2002.

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FEI PRESS NEWS IN COOPERATION WITH:
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO.
Samsung Electronics has supported sports marketing activities world-wide with a strong initiative in equestrian sports since 1988. In 1996 Samsung took the world-wide sponsorship of the Nations Cup. Samsung is a long time partner of equestrian sport and has been the patron of the International Jumping and Dressage Competitions (now called Challenge) aimed at developing the sport on a worldwide basis since 1988. Samsung believes strongly in the values of sport, which promote deeper understanding and mutual exchange between people of the world.

GANDINI HIGH FASHIO FABRICS
Gandini Tessuti Alta Moda (Gandini High Fashion Fabrics) was founded in 1925 and is active in the creation and design of high-quality fabrics. In 2001 Gandini became the new sponsor of the FEI World Jumping Riders Rankings.

BCM
Best Communication & Management, BCM, is specialised in the organisation, management and sponsorship of equestrian events. BCM's services range from providing various facilities to organising the entire show. Beside its activities in event organisation, BCM is also the publisher of the official equestrian yearbook 'L'Année Hippique,' and of the monthly magazine 'Horse International'.Since 1998, BCM supports the World Cup Dressage and the World Dressage Rankings.

PSI
In 2001 Performance Sales International (PSI) granted its support to the FEI Jumping and Dressage Challenge. This series of approximately 100 competitions taking place in over 60 countries serves to develop dressage and show jumping in nations wishing to reach the highest competition level.

UAE NF
Since 1999, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Equestrian and Racing Federation produces the FEI Endurance Riders Rankings. The 2001 edition was won by Dato Kamruddin bin Abdul Ghani (MAS).

DRIVING
Thank you to the supporters of the Driving discipline: Finn Caspersen, supporter of the Four-in-Hand Top Driver Award, Van der Wiel Harness supporter of the Top Driver Award for Pairs, Kühnle who supports the Singles Top Driver Award. The US company Driving Essentials and the Canadian Freedman Harness support the North American Challenge

WALDRIED DRESSAGE STABLES
Since 2001, Waldfried Dressage Stables is supporting the Euro Future Cup, a Dressage Series aimed at encouraging the progress of Young Riders.
The FEI would like to take this opportunity to thank its faithful sponsors for their ongoing support.