The Equestrian Federation of India’s inconsistencies have come to the fore yet again. Unless, of course, you speak of its consistently trampling upon the conduct of events, both at the national and international levels, at the cost of the athletes and horses, or of its consistently embracing poor governance with a view only to retain positions of power.
Athletes seeking to represent the country in the Asian Games Show Jumping competition in Hangzhou in September were stunned by an EFI decision to make it mandatory for all rider-horse combination to compete in the last two trails in Delhi before selecting a set of probables for the Asian Games.
In one stroke, it rendered virtually futile the efforts of the athletes and horses in the first three trials. The EFI decided that the Course Plan for each of the three Asian Games Show Jumping trials held in Bengaluru (October) and Mumbai (December 2021 and January 2022) was not up to the standards needed for the Asian Games.
Even a lay sports fan, without any knowledge of the intricacies of Equestrian sport, would question the EFI’s tardiness. Why did it wait for three events to be held before ‘swinging into action’ to decide that the Course Plan needed to be in keeping with FEI standards? After all, the Course Designer for each of the events would have been appointed by EFI.
Similarly, each event was held in the presence of international Jury as mandated by the selection criteria. It seems the EFI Executive Committee has assumed a greater ability to judge the quality of the Course Plans in the three events held in Bengaluru and Mumbai. It remains to be seen whether the selection committee ignores the efforts of the athletes in those trials.
Sadly, in at least one of the three events the Technical Delegate was not present in the host city, let alone at the venue. That person is the EFI Secretary-General Col. Jaiveer Singh. While some may question his credentials to be Technical Delegate, it is possible that the Course Plan may have been in keeping with the expected standards had he done his job diligently.
Since the EFI insisted that event hosts cannot allow their sponsors to place banners around the respective jumping arena or organise supporting events for their members, a sense of discontent is prevalent in the community of organisers. Perhaps paying some attention to that, EFI has allowed some junior events to be held along with the last two trials in Delhi.
Meanwhile, in choosing not to make public the report of the Enquiry Committee in case of four Indians representing Nepal in the World Cup Tent-Pegging Qualifiers in Greater Noida in March 2021, EFI said the matter was sub-judice. However, it had no hesitation in rushing through some changes to its Statutes despite the Delhi High Court hearing a case on the subject.
The desperate act of citing l’affaire Tent-Pegging being sub-judice when not sharing the Enquiry Committee report with its own members attending the Annual General Meeting on March 27 is enough indication of the lack of intent to embrace transparency, fair play and probity.
The EFI Executive Committee should have been shaken by the sight of a member of the Enquiry Committee, Kevic Setalvad, rising in the Annual General Meeting to refute the suggestion that the panel had asked for sanctions to be imposed on the four athletes. It would have least expected Mr. Setalvad to highlight the EC’s arbitrary dealing of the case.
It then makes sense to examine what the report itself says. Unfortunately, we have had to make do with access only to some portions of what appears to be the report. Mr. Setalvad had alluded to a copy doing the rounds and had beseeched the EFI Executive Committee to place the report in public domain. But that, like many things fell on deaf ears.
From what can be gathered, the leaked report concluded that the Indian riders who participated for the Nepal team were not guilty, in any way, of impersonation. The panel also inferred that the athletes had been drawn into representing Nepal by the now deceased Ashutosh Mishra, who had allegedly provided fake credentials to represent Nepal in the ITPF.
The Enquiry Committee is said to have pointed out that the situation arose because there are no clear-cut rules barring Indians from representing other countries in Equestrian disciplines not governed by the Olympic Charter. Indeed, it recommended that EFI immediately frame rules to prevent such situations from recurring even if ITPF itself allows such instances.
The panel also pointed out that EFI Executive should have played a more proactive role. If the functionaries had diligently discharged their duty, including fiduciary responsibilities, the scenario may not have occurred. The absence of Standard Operating Procedures for all stakeholders to monitor, supervise and conduct events resulted in ad-hoc functioning, it held.
Besides all these, the panel is said to have held the view that the nomination of Col. Jaiveer Singh and Lt. Col. MM Rahman as members of the Appeal Committee of the World Championships Qualifiers was inappropriate as neither had the credentials to be on the Committee as judges, officials, coaches or in any other capacity related to the discipline.
On February 24, 2022, the Executive Committee decided to suspend the athletes and EFI Member (Tent Pegging) Col. Tarsem Singh Warraich for his oversight and negligence, it recommended only counselling for the Secretary-General and the Joint Secretary. There is no evidence of the EC either issuing the duo a show-cause notice or even asking any questions.
