Equestrian Federation of India (EFI), through senior counsel Jayant Mehta, made a passionate bid in the High Court of Delhi on Wednesday to show that horses are not equipment but athletes with mood swings. Yet, in insisting that horses are athletes, EFI may have been tacitly admitting that it has flouted the Government of India policy that only Indian athletes can represent the country.
The question if a horse is ‘Equipment’, as defined in the National Sports Development Code of India 2011, or ‘Athlete’, as claimed by the Equestrian Federation of India has emerged among the hotly debated points in Rajasthan Equestrian Association’s Writ Petition being heard by the High Court of Delhi.
Rajasthan Equestrian Association senior counsel Rajiv Dutta had argued forcefully that the Ministry had specified horses as equipment and the EFI argument that Equestrian sport is a peculiar sport because of the involvement of two athletes — one human and another equine — was not in keeping with the National Sports Code.
“Horses along with their diet for Equestrian events and boats/yachts etc. shall be treated as equipment for reimbursement of hiring/transportation,” the National Sports Code specifies. However, EFI has repeatedly argued before the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and in Court that since it is a living being, a horse is an athlete.
EFI has not once celebrated a horse, not even listing the horses that have partnered athletes in winning honours for India in the Asian Games. Five horses – Shahzada Sr., Shahzada Jr, Mirza, Seigneur Medicott and Etro – made to the Asian Games podium twice each. EFI has not made even a token attempt to award any of them, let alone recommend one for a National Sports Award.
The argument that horses are athletes will contravene the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports’ directive that only Indian athletes can represent India.
Back on December 26, 2008, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports wrote to the Indian Olympic Association and all recognised National Sports Federations that it had been decided that only players who are citizens of India would be entitled to receive Government support for representing the country in the National teams (see below).
“Further, the policy decision would also be applicable in the consideration of proposals for the participation of the National teams in international sports events,” the Ministry wrote, directing the IOA and the National Sports Federations the best interest of Indian sport would be served by ensuring that players who are Indian citizens only represent the country in the National teams.
The Ministry backed that up with another letter on March 12, 2009 (see above), making it clear that it was not just financial support from Government that was restricted to Indian Nationals only but also the inclusion of players in the National teams was restricted to Indain Nationals only. “Only Indian Nationals are eligible to be part of the National team and walk under the Indian Flag,” it said.
This was challenged in the High Court of Delhi, but Justice S Muralidhar who heard the write petition held that the policy decision taken by the Government of India could not be said to be arbitrary or unreasonable. He also highlighted that the uniform view expressed by NSFs was that only Indian passport holders should be permitted to represent India.
EFI knows better than anyone that two medals each in the Asian Games in Jakarta and Hangzhou were won by riders on leased (hired) horses, each of which has a passport issued by European nations, France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands and Denmark. Nor can EFI deny that four Eventing horses, secured with public money ahead of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games last year, were all leased from European owners. Can ‘athletes’ be leased to represent India?
Seigneur Medicott, Veni Vedi Vici, Frimeur du Record CH and Dalakhani du Routy were the horses that teamed up with Indian riders in Jakarta in 2018 while Etro, Chemxpro Emerald, Adrenalin Firford and Chinski featured in the campaign last year. Similarly, Seigneur Medicott and Sir Caramello OLD were the horses on which Fouaad Mirza and Anush Agarwalla competed in the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris respectively.
EFI will have to decide if it has committed multiple violations of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports’ directive, based on uniform views expressed by all National Sports Federations, and upheld by the High Court of Delhi by including non-Indian ‘athletes’ in the National teams in the Asian Games and the Olympic Games.
In their desperation to win arguments in the Ministry corridors and in Court, some EFI officials have chosen to ignore facts when trying their hardest to show that they run a peculiar sport. Worse, they may have all but risked the human athletes’ endeavour on leased overseas horses in the last two Asian Games at the altar of their convenience.
Featured Image: File photo of Seigneur Medicott and Fouad Mirza, used for representational purposes only, courtesy Embassy International Riding School
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