Surfing the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) website for ownership details of four Eventing horses that Indians had leased in the run up the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games last year has led to another startling discovery. The number of competitions these horses have been part of in the past two years raises some questions.
Neither Veni Vedi Vici nor Absolute Sally, which did not make it to the Asian Games, has competed since June 28, 2023, when Indian riders were on trial. Curiously, Veni Vedi Vici had not competed at all for more than a year before Ashish Malik rode that event. And, Absolute Sally had competed in just one event in 2023 before Rakesh Kumar got on its saddle.
Valtho des Peupliers and Noreway Harry, which made it to Hangzhou, have taken part in a couple of CCI1*-Intro events this year. These are two notches below the level of the CCI2*-L Asian Games Eventing competition. Valtho Des Peupliers had competed in one event earlier in 2023 and Noreway Harry had not competed in 2023 before being leased.
While results are not entirely in the athlete’s control, eyebrows have to be raised when it becomes known that horses for which India shelled out top dollar had not competed enough before the Asian Games trials or after. It does raise doubts about the process followed by those involved in the decision to lease these horses and to fund them.
The genesis of the problem lies in the EFI conducting a series of trials in India when it was well aware that China’s equine quarantine regulations would prevent horses from India travelling to Hangzhou. Yet, EFI audited statement of accounts reveals that it had spent Rs 1.82 crore on Asian Games trials in India when it knew that these trials were an exercise in futility.
EFI then rushed four Army riders to Europe, assisting them in leasing horses, to compete with two civilians Ashish Limaye and Raju Singh who had their own horses. Ashish Malik and Rakesh Kumar, 2018 Asian Games medalists, returned home after just one competition each, though the lease for the horses would have extended till after the Asian Games.
Thanks to public funds being made available by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through the Sports Authority of India, horses were leased in the run up to and during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games last year. EFI’s annual statement of accounts reveal that it received Rs. 5.22 crore from SAI for the Hanzgou 2022 Asian Games.
In its Annual Calendar for Training and Competition presented to the Ministry sometime after April 13, 2023, had budgeted 100,000 Euro as the cost of leasing each Eventing horse. It had shown Rs 3.56 crore as the estimated cost of leasing four horses, nearly 75 per cent of the total budget proposed for the Eventing team.
A Committee of Experts, including Lt. Gen. Amolakjit Singh, Maj. Gen. Sameer Lanba, Imtiaz Anees, Capt. Ritika Dahiya and Dhriti Wadhwa, must take ownership for approving decisions, including on selection criteria, selection of coaches, and leasing horses. Clearly, not enough due diligence was done before leasing the horses, like the EFI had done in 2018 when selectors had flown to Europe for the purpose.
Senior Counsel Rajiv Dutta and Ashish Kothari, appearing for Rajasthan Equestrian Association in the High Court of Delhi against EFI, point out that EFI Executive Committee member Col. SS Ahlawat (retd.) had pointed out that Selectors or Veterinarians had not seen the horses, but few seemed keen to heed his warnings back then.
They also point out that Justice (retd). Najmi Wazir, who had been appointed by the High Court of Delhi to chair an extraordinary general meeting of EFI, had noted that there was no transparency in the appointment of coaches for the Asian Games and he had refused a discussion to approve their payments.
Do horses have no nationalities?
The four Eventing horses leased for the Asian Games are owned by the French. Valtho des Peupliers is owned by the Scherer Stables (Ecuries Scherer), with coach Rodolphe Scherer as the key figure. SC Camatieu owns Noreway Harry. French nationals Maryse Bouchet and Charlotte Soula own Veni Vedi Vici and Absolute Sally respectively.
EFI had ‘clarified’ to a daily newspaper that “While horses have passports, they do not have a nationality. They are registered as Indian heading out to international competition.” This is contrary to what the Horse Passport will have us believe (see below). It makes it clear that the nationality of a horse is that of its owner.
In fact, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, FEI mandated that the nationality of the owner of the horse competing must be the same as the athlete riding the horse. In fact, FEI insisted that horse-owners and athletes must be of the same nationality, ruling out athletes leasing horses from owners with other nationalities.
Of course, the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Equestrian Technical Handbook specified that all horses must have an FEI passport, or a National Horse Passport approved by FEI. It is apparent that the Olympic Council of Asia and the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC) have no issue if the horses were of a different nationality to the rider.
It is for that reason alone that EFI could specify that a letter of consent signed by the owner/lessor of a foreign horse to include the details of the transactions in the FEI Horse Passport as warranted by HAGOC was necessary. Entry of such transactions do not change the nationality of the horse, as has been suggested by EFI in its recent media blitz.
Yet, if the EFI and its senior counsel Jayant Mehta continue to insist that horses are athletes – and not equipment as stated in the National Sports Development Code 2011 – it is clearly in violation of the Government of India directive that only Indian nationals can represent the country and play under its flag.
EFI is trying to have the cake and eat it too by calling a horse an athlete when it suits it and then claiming that it has no nationality. Clearly, EFI has been scrambling to prove that while horses are athletes, it is okay to lease ‘athletes’ from other countries and field them under the India flag just by registering them as Indian ahead of a competition.
