FEI Constitutional Task Force report. Waste of time or possibilities?

As most of you are aware of, the FEI established a Constitutional Task Force in marts 2011. The mandate was to produce a report for the Executive Board (EB). The communication with the FEI but surely not least within the task force itself was not optimal, but anyhow we ended up with a report which was ready only minutes before the presentation at the GA in Rio. The report itself is confidential, but the power point presentation which was distributed to all the EEF members was not. Nobody can blame the EB for not commenting on the report due to the late delivery, but how do we proceed from here? No doubt that the EB can do with the report whatever they want but after all there is valuable information in it, and it would be a pity if at least parts of it do not come to the surface and discussed in order to optimize the structure in the future.

My general impression during the work with the task force was that the FEI the last year has been well functioning and a big positive change has happened in headquarters, as well as at bureau meetings, EB- meetings etc. and the need for structural change was not urgent any more. The FEI had themselves made big progress including weekly meetings in the EB, monthly meetings in bureau, sports forum etc. and it looks like a positive development. This is also the impression of our own representatives in the bureau (chairs of group I and group II).

However one thing was very clear in the report. The different continents have very different demands concerning development of our sport, just as we within Europe have between the many NFs, and as part of Europe I really look forward to realize the spirit of Brotherhood in the EEF.

Where continental associations exists there is a strong relation to these from the NFs, maybe even stronger than to the FEI itself, and this is because they most of all care for the development of the sport within the continents and want influence on a continental level how it should be structured and developed.

My personal recommendation to the FEI is to start negotiations with all of continental associations and find a solution for how the continents can “govern there own sport” in close cooperation with the FEI, and I hope that our representatives will put the issue on the agenda on a upcoming bureau meeting. The sooner the better.

Ulf Helgstrand
Member of the Constitutional Task Force 2011
Vice President EEF