The new showjumping league Global Champions League (GCL) which is planned and developed by Global Champions Tour (GCT) has filed a complaint with the Belgian Competition Authority in Brussels accusing the sport’s governing body, the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), of breaching European Union competition law.

The cause of the complaint is the fact that FEI has imposed its “exclusivity clause” to prevent riders from competing at shows not approved by the FEI. GCL claims that the clause “is a clear breach of EU competition law and is therefore illegal.” The new GCL team competition was planned for a launch during 2015, but as FEI and GCT has not been able to agree about the format for the new league the launch has been delayed

The FEI has so far not made an official statement regarding the matter while GCL has distributed their grounds for filing the complaint. The GCL document is attached below.

Source: Press release from Global Champions League.