Spooks Gotta Whiz and Shawn Flarida at WEG 2014 • QHN archive photoThe Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) has announced that it is working on alternatives for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG), following a mutual agreement between the FEI and the Canadian Comité organisateur des Jeux Équestres Mondiaux 2018 (COJEM) to terminate the contract to host the Games due to ongoing financial problems.
“We are melancholy that the Bromont Organising Committee will no longer be able to host the 2018 Games,” said FEI President Ingmar De Vos. “We have worked very closely with the COJEM Board and all levels of the organisation since the Games were awarded to Canada in mid-2014 and have known for some time that the Bromont team is facing major financial difficulties.
“We have done everything possible to provide support during these hard times, but unfortunately the COJEM Board has been unable to develop a realistic funding and sponsorship strategy and despite our best efforts, we have had no choice but to agree to terminate the contract. We believe that Bromont is a truly special venue and equestrianism plays a key role in the local community. We hope that they will be able to host more major equestrian events in the future.”
“This decision was very hard to accept,” said Rosaire Houde, Chair of the COJEM Board. “Since the recent Board took over, we have left no stone unturned to find solid financing for the Games, but unfortunately we have not succeeded. We are extremely grateful to the FEI for their support throughout the process, but we have mutually agreed to terminate the contract. I personally deeply regret this, but it was the only responsible course of action.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in this project and believed in it from the beginning. It was so dear to the hearts of so many people in Bromont and Quebec and we are devastated that we could not hold this great event.”
The 2018 Games were awarded to Canada by the FEI Office in June 2014 after the FEI bid committee confirmed it had significant government support. This was at the local government level, but the financial plan for the Games called for raising funds from the federal government. However, Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and People with Disabilities, confirmed last week that there would be no funding from the Canadian federal government.
The FEI has been visiting Bromont regularly to assist COJEM with planning and to discuss financial matters. Both the FEI President and FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez have been in Canada in recent months to work directly with the COJEM Board.
“While the FEI naturally wanted to ensure the success of the Games in Canada and has provided all possible support, we also have a responsibility to our community and the future of our flagship events,” said De Vos. “We are now reviewing possible alternatives for 2018 and are confident that we will be able to make an announcement shortly.”
“Of course, it is not basic for any organising committee to put on an event of this magnitude within two years. But this is nothing recent. The Italians hosted an excellent World Equestrian Games in Rome in 1998 after Ireland pulled out less than two years before the Games. So we are confident that a workable solution will be found.”
