Irish showjumper Cian O’Connor and Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) have lost their appeal against the FEI decision that saw Ireland miss out on a place at the Rio Olympics.
Incident
Cian was competing in the final team competition at the FEI European Jumping Championships in Aachen in August when a member of the ground crew ran in front of him. The man had to jump into a flower bed to avoid a collision with O’Connor’s horse.
The Irish rider then knocked down the next jump to finish on 4 faults. He was the only rider in the competition to knock that fence down and the result meant Ireland finished 0.38pen behind Spain.
This meant Ireland missed out on coveted team qualification for this summer’s Olympics.
Appeal
Following the incident the Irish team lodged an appeal first with the ground jury and then with the Appeals Committee at Aachen.
When these were unsuccessful an appeal was lodged to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Brussels on 11 September and a hearing took place in Lausanne on 16 December 2015.
“I am happy that the CAS has confirmed the decision of the FEI Appeal Committee” said FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez. “This was a field of play issue that was covered by FEI rules so the CAS ruling upholding the decision made at the time is an important one for the FEI.”
Disappointing
Cian O’Connor posted a reaction to the news on social media.
“Disappointing News – the Court Of Arbitration for Sport have upheld the decision of the FEI appeal committee from Aachen which means Team Ireland do not get a place for the Rio Olympics” Cian wrote on his Facebook page.
“have no regrets. I tried everything possible and left no stone unturned in trying to seek fairness for what I feel was an unsporting decision made by the ground jury in Aachen. It’s time to move on and refocus on the sport rather than getting caught up further in bureaucracy and even more angry with officialdom.
“Team Ireland are first reserve because of the good performance at WEG in 2014 so there is always a chance that we will get there yet – so best to keep aiming for it I guess!”