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The FEI has announced its plans to transform the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™-series into a new concept – the Longines League of Nations. With the proposed series name, the FEI aims to “differentiate the top series from all Nations Cups”.
FEI’s announcement came swiftly after an Emergency Board Resolution, which approved a change to the FEI General Regulations – giving FEI the freedom to directly select the events that will make up the Longines League of Nations.
The FEI has clearly communicated the Longines League of Nations as a work in progress as it still requires further details to be established with the involvement of the FEI Jumping Committee, and also as it will be subject to the final endorsement of the FEI’s Top Partner Longines. However, a detailed proposal was presented and discussed at last week’s Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Task Force meeting, and it included a working concept where the ten best nations in the world based on the Longines Ranking will be eligible to compete – with the possibility to qualify for a final planned to be worth 1.6 million Euro in prize money, alongside several additional bonuses.
Subject to discussion
The Nations Cup-series has over the years gone through several changes and has since 1930 been under the FEI’s governance. It has had many title sponsors, in more recent times Samsung (1997-2008), Meydan (2009-2010) and Furusiyya (2013-2017). In 2011 and 2012 the series was without a title sponsor, which was also the case in 2017. Since 2018, the Swiss watchmaker Longines – a major sponsor of equestrian sports – has been the title sponsor, after reaching a “long-term agreement” with the FEI.
The watchmaker has since 2012 been an Official Top Partner of the FEI, making Longines Official Timekeeper and Official Watch of the FEI. Becoming Top Partner, Longines also took over the title sponsorship of the FEI World Cup™ Jumping – pushing Rolex, the previous sponsor of the series, out, as the 2013/2014-season got underway.
The FEI Nations Cup-series has been subject to discussion for years, and at the FEI Sports Forum in 2017, concerns were raised about its future. “It’s just about the prize money at the moment,” said Steve Guerdat back then. “I think we should concentrate on making the Nations Cup the best product we can, so that the sponsors and money will follow once the product is there where it should be. The main investment should be done on how to make this product so good that the sponsors are willing to put money into it, and not just thinking about money driving the whole thing.”
Fierce competition
Six years on, the debate over its future is still running and the series finds itself with fierce competition from other lucrative and prominent global players such as the FEI approved Longines Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League, as well as the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, and furthermore the North American series Major League Show Jumping that also has branched out to include a leg in Mexico. Both the Global Champions League and the Major League Show Jumping feature team competitions.
All of these series offer considerable prize money and bonuses compared to the FEI Jumping Nations Cups. As an example, the four Rolex Grand Prix classes in the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping come with prize money totalling 5.000.000 million Euro: Aachen with 1.000.000, Spruce Meadows with 2.100.000, Geneva with 1.100.000 and ´s-Hertogenbosch with 1.000.000. In addition, winning three Majors in a row adds a one million Euro bonus on top of the prize money of each show, and a fourth Major in succession will be rewarded with an additional million. Furthermore, anyone who wins two out of the four shows during a season receives a bonus of 250.000 Euro. In the Longines Global Champions Tour and the Global Champions League, the 2022-season finale in Prague had 8.250.000 Euro in prize money on offer. In comparison, the CSIO5* Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cups in Europe Division 1 were last year worth 200.000 Euro each plus a 50.000 Euro bonus for the best Nations Cup rider, while at the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final in Barcelona in 2022 riders were competing for overall prize money of 1.750.000 Euro and additional bonuses worth 150.00 Euro.
To explore different options to ensure a sustainable future for the series, the first Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Task Force meeting took place in Lausanne in October last year. “There is no shortage of commitment to the Series, but we need to secure and ensure meaningful change if we are to guarantee the viability of the Series for generations to come and we need the active help of our National Federations to provide us with the right tools to make this happen,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said following the meeting.
Last week, a second Task Force meeting was held in Lausanne, and included in the FEI’s presentation of a working concept were plans to not only simplify the format and differentiate the new series from all other Nations Cups, but also to increase the prize money when launching the Longines League of Nations – with 700.000 Euro per qualifier for team and individuals.
The dropouts
In the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ calendar for the 2023-season, the series includes six venues in Europe – St. Gallen (SUI), Sopot (POL), Rotterdam (NED), Falsterbo (SWE), Hickstead (GBR) and Dublin (IRL) – as well as four venues outside of Europe – Abu Dhabi (UAE), San Miguel de Allende (MEX), San Juan Capistrano (USA) and Langley (CAN). Throughout these ten qualifiers, seven Europe Division 1 teams, two Middle East teams as well as two North and Central American & Caribbean teams qualify for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final in Barcelona.
Furthermore, the EEF Series – which consists of ten CSIO3* events – are jumped at different European venues; Gorla Minore (ITA), Mannheim (GER), Peelbergen (NED), Aalborg (DEN), Athens (GRE), Drammen (DEN), Bratislava (SLO), Deauville (FRA), Ebreichsdorf (AUT), and Warsaw (POL). The winning team of the final in the EEF Series qualifies for Europe Division 1 of the next calendar year, while the lowest ranked team on the overall Division 1 standings prior to the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 will be automatically relegated to the EEF Series.
Over the years, some of the world’s most beautiful, historical and traditional jumping venues have decided to drop out of the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™-series – like Aachen in 2014, Rome in 2018 and La Baule in 2021. All of them have now teamed up with new title-sponsors, the Nations Cup in Aachen is sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, Rome by Intesa Sanpaolo and La Baule by Barriere. Their Grand Prix classes are sponsored by Rolex. On the other side of the pond, the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ hosts a CSIO5* Nations Cup sponsored by BMO and is – like Aachen – also part of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping.
More decision-making capacity to the FEI
In Europe, it has – in accordance with the FEI General Regulations – been up to each national federation to choose the organiser of the one CSIO5* event that has been allowed per country per season. However, during last week's Task Force meeting, the FEI suggested a change to the General Regulations – which would give the FEI free choice of which events to include in their calendar for the Longines League of Nations. While sixteen national federations agreed to move forward with such a proposal, seven were against and four abstained. Among those opposed were France and Germany – the FEI’s largest national federations in terms of registered horses and riders. Simultaneously, sources told World of Showjumping that it was debated whether it should be permitted to allow two CSIO5* events per European nation per season.
One week after the Task Force meeting, the FEI communicated that the change to the General Regulations had been made as an Emergency Board Resolution – allowing the FEI to directly select the events that will make up the Longines League of Nations via the creation of a new category of CSIO, referred to as an FEI CSIO Series Event. The FEI CSIO Series Events will be subject to an additional date clash rule whereby an FEI CSIO Series Event cannot be scheduled on the same dates as an existing CSIO5* in the same country or continent. The Emergency Board Resolution was, according to the FEI, “(…) deemed a necessary stepping stone in the makeover process”.
The modifications to the General Regulations were approved through an Emergency Board Resolution due to time constraints, the FEI detailed to World of Showjumping. In order for the new series to launch in 2024, the FEI could not afford to wait to make a decision until their General Assembly in November. Should any national federations disagree to the decision taken by the Board, they have 30 days to notify the FEI by email.
In a press release, FEI President Ingmar De Vos stated that the change to the General Regulations will have a limited impact on the FEI calendar, and that for the FEI “(…) it is an essential building block towards raising the profile of the prestigious team series and to guarantee its sustainability.” De Vos added: “Cooperation with the National Federations remains key for the success of the series but we now have more freedom to choose the Events that are part of it.”
Brand new global concept
“This is about a top series with top teams and top venues – the principle is simple but we believe really impactful,” said FEI President Ingmar De Vos in a press release from FEI as the plans for the League of Nations was announced earlier this week. “Of course, there is still a lot of work and details to fine tune, but we have the framework, and we have the strong support from the community, from the FEI Board, and from our Top Partner Longines.”
The working concept for the Longines League of Nations that the FEI presented in last week’s Task Force meeting proposed five qualifiers and one final decided by the FEI after a bidding process. Ideally, the FEI would like to see three of the five qualifiers and the final take place in Europe, while the two remaining qualifiers are aimed at being overseas – which would mean that at least five of the current fixtures in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™-series will be left out of the League when it launches, or possibly even more if the FEI opts to go for new venues. The ten nations in the series will be obligated to compete in all five qualifiers, as well as in the final if qualified, and there will be four or five riders per team.
For the qualifiers, the draft proposal suggests keeping the format of two rounds and a jump-off, with ten teams – plus the home team – in round one, where the eight best will qualify for the second round. In round two, it’s proposed that teams will start on scratch – not carrying faults over as in today’s Nations Cups. The first round will determine the starting order for the second round, and in case of a tie for the win, there will be a jump-off. The proposal also includes the possibility to allow changes between the two rounds. The ten teams qualified to compete will be obliged to participate in all five qualifiers and the final.
The eight best teams based upon the final standings after the five qualifiers will be eligible to compete in the final, where the home nation also can participate but without the chance of qualification for the Olympic Games.
For the final, the draft proposal suggests two rounds plus a jump-off – on the same day – with changes allowed between the two rounds. The six best teams out of the eight in round one will qualify for the second round, where teams will start from scratch and where the first round will determine the starting order. In case of a tie for the win, there will be a jump-off. Upping the prize money for the qualifiers and the final, as well as introducing bonuses for the best rider, the best groom, the owner of the best horse, the best U25 rider as well as the best Chef d’Equipe, the FEI is also attempting to make participation more interesting financially.
Mixed reviews
On the FEI’s draft proposal, Rodrigo Pessoa – FEI Athlete Representative – commented to World of Showjumping: “First of all, at this stage, the draft proposal has not been up for discussion in the FEI Jumping Committee – nothing concrete has been presented to us yet from the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Task Force. Based on the draft proposal, I have problems to understand how a Nations Cup League such as this – that is supposed to be the most prestigious in the sport – will not include many of our most historical shows and venues. Furthermore, I’m more of a traditionalist so I don’t like the idea to start on scratch in the second round – I believe faults should be carried over, to make the competition as exciting as possible. This is the DNA of the Nations Cups for over a hundred years. I could live with the proposed formula for a final, but not in the qualifiers.”
As one of seven national federations that voted against giving the FEI more decision-making capacity as to which events to include in the League’s calendar, the French federation detailed their position to the FEI – stating: “As we already have been mentioning at each of the previous steps from the consultation, we as NF FEI member and key partner for the delivery of equestrian sport in our country, need to know more from such FEI project. The current mandate requested by the FEI to us is far too premature as we still don't get answers to our essential questions. It appears to us unreasonable to support a drastic evolution of the roles of the FEI and NFs when it comes to National Team competition, without being capable to fairly evaluate the sport interest and value of the project.”
Kevin Staut, president of the International Jumping Riders Club, has been participating in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Task Force meetings and stated to World of Showjumping: “I’m a big fan of the Nations Cup, and – as many – I was worried about the 1st division situation. Last Tuesday [28 March 2023], the FEI came with a really consistent proposal; the League of Nations. Now we have to work even harder on the technical issues due to the tight timing to get this product ready and strong for 2024.”
Eleonora Ottaviani, director of the International Jumping Riders Club, echoed Staut, and said to World of Showjumping: “My personal comment can be summed up in two words: Grazie, Bravo! The project is interesting from various points of view. There is thoughtful interest in everyone involved: organisers, riders, grooms, sponsors and the media. Now we need to select the right infrastructures and OCs guided by experts, and above all passionate and not tied solely to business interests. I'd also like to take this opportunity to underline the position of the IJRC, which is to maintain the classic format of two rounds and a jump-off, with faults to be carried over to the second round and no scratch faults. We need to find the right balance. Fingers crossed!”
Jos Lansink, Chef d’Equipe of the Dutch team, said to World of Showjumping: “I have not been informed yet on what exactly has come out of the Task Force meetings, perhaps the FEI could have included more of us in the consultation process. That being said, it is maybe a good idea to reduce the number of Nations Cup shows due to the many events in the FEI calendar. However, we then have to ensure that those events that remain have the highest standard. I am a bit concerned about those venues that potentially will be left out of the League though, no one is going to want to let go easily – I’m sure all six Europe Division 1 organisers would want to stay in. Furthermore, I also prefer that the format stays as it is, so that faults carry over to round two.”
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