Racing Vs. Sport Doping Bans: FEI To Examine Reciprocity With Racing Authorities

The Fédération Équestre Internationale, the international governing body of equestrian sports, is poised to ask racing authorities to recognize doping bans across all equine sport jurisdictions, reports Horsesport.com. The goal is to prevent banned offenders in one horse sport from participating in another.

Endurance and Thoroughbred racing trainer Ismail Mohammed has been provisionally suspended by the FEI since Feb. 3, 2023, making all his registered FEI endurance horses ineligible for competition until 30 days after a new trainer is assigned. The trainer has been suspended or fined for multiple anti-doping infringement by three different governing bodies since 2005.

However, racing rules have allowed Mohammed to continue training flat horses in Dubai and Newmarket; he has saddled 16 runners under Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) rules since being stood down by the FEI.

“While the FEI cooperates extensively with various horseracing authorities on a range of issues through the IHSC [International Horse Sports Confederation], the respective sanctioning systems are not aligned and there is currently no provision for mutual recognition of sanctions,” an FEI spokesman told Horsesport.com. “The FEI will look at the legal aspects of the potential recognition and application of sanctions between FEI and racing authorities and will discuss with the IHSC [International Horse Sports Confederation] at its next meeting.”