French Coach accuses EFI officials of ‘finishing’ Eventing team ahead of Asian Games

Equestrian Coach Rodolphe Scherer has accused Equestrian Federation of India officials of ‘finishing’ the Indian Eventing team ahead of the Asian Games after two riders, Ashish Malik and Rakesh Kumar, recently returned to India from Europe where there were unable to make a mark in the only event that they competed in.

In an e-mail to the EFI Secretary-General Col. Jaiveer Singh and marked also to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Indian Olympic Association besides many in the Equestrian fraternity, the coach wrote that it seemed to him that the entire process was designed only to include Ashish Malik in the team. “…and now that he (has) not qualified, then finish all the team,” he wrote.

“Since Ashish Malik and Rakesh Kumar were sent back because of no FEI qualification, your attitude towards selection and sending the Eventing team to Asian Games is becoming more and more negative by each day,” Rodolphe Schoerer wrote. “Fight with the enemy is difficult, but normal! Fight with their own Federation is to add on to difficult… no chance to success.”

An angry and upset Rodolphe Scherer alleged that when Ashish Malik was still in the running, EFI paid the coach on schedule but after he left for India, the coach had to organize his own funds for training and competition of the Indian riders. “Before Ashish, Piroplasmosis normal problem; after Ashish, big problem,” he wrote.

He was referring to the EFI Secretary General warning to Rodolphe Schere that violations of veterinary protocols issued by China had taken place is his yard. Col. Jaiveer Singh had written to the coach saying that EFI would consider it a breach of contract if the horses were not permitted to travel to China on vet grounds. 

EFI officials demand that rider-horse combinations secure EFI Minimum Eligibility Requirement score (MER) ahead of the Asian Games has left them trapped in a web of their own making. On the one hand the coach insists that the time is to prepare the team for the Asian Games rather than attempt qualification. On the other hand, EFI has insisted that riders from India secure MERs with their new horses. And this stems from the relentless pressure they imposed on Dressage rider Gaurav Pundir, especially in the High Court of Delhi.

Rather surprisingly, Col. Jaiveer Singh admitted in one of his mails to the coach that EFI does not have stipulated number of elected Executive Committee members or the elected Selection Committee. He claimed that the selection criteria have no scope for variance and that every combination competing in the Asian Games would mandatorily require an EFI MER.

Interestingly, EFI officials have declined Rodolphe Scherer’s suggestion that the rider-horse combinations compete in an event in France. They have cited a possible conflict of interest since the coach is French. They thought nothing of such conflict when clearing events for the Dressage probables with at least one rider securing MERs in events held on her ‘home’ ground.

Having set up a smokescreen Committee of Experts to ensure that the likes of Ashish Malik and Rakesh Kumar – who got one MER each on their familiar horses in the trials in India – would be among the probables, EFI would have believed that these experienced riders would hold their own against younger opponents. But that was not to be.

It seems that they did not imagine Ashish Malik (on an Asian Games silver medal winning horse) and Rakesh Kumar would perform so poorly that they could not even get the FEI MER, let alone the EFI MER. But now that these two riders have returned home, EFI officials appear to have lost all interest in the Asian Games project and are attempting all tactics to withdraw the team.

Back in 2018, Federation officials were influenced by a thought leader in the sport to ask an unhappy rider to write a complaint against another rider and that led to the Asian Games team being scrapped within 24 hours of being announced and a new squad sent. It is possible that this officer and gentleman will attempt similar tactics now.

It would appear that the key functionaries devised the window for the trials, ending on February 15, 2023, to ensure that 2018 Asian Games double silver medalist Fouaad Mirza would be kept out of the frame. Expectedly, he opted out of the selection race since he could not find four suitable CCI2*-L events in Europe on either side of winter.

EFI officials also contrived to leave young Chirag Khandal out of the equation after he questioned them about the need to attain three Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MER) in four trials as ordained by the changed selection criteria. Before the Asian Games was postponed, selectors had stipulated that the rider-horse combinations needed to secure only one MER in five events.

The Federation bosses were presented with a chance to try and forge a strong team for the Asian Games when they discovered that horses based in India would not be able to travel to China. They could have started the process afresh and included both Fouaad Mirza and Chirag Khandal among the probables, but they mulishly refused to put India ahead of themselves.