The latest update from the Australian Equestrian High Performance Programme advises that the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has amended the Olympic Team Nomination & Selection By-Laws for equestrian sports
Australia’s governing body for equestrian sport, Equestrian Australia, is currently in Voluntary Administration and is now operating under a Deed of Company Arrangement following the second creditors meeting on July 14th 2020
The Voluntary Administration process started in June with KordaMentha at the helm was ‘intended to be rapid, envisaged by the Corporations Act to take about a month’, however difficulties still lie ahead with the State bodies, who put forward their own DOCA proposal which was rejected, still having the ability to reject the constitutional amendments yet to be tabled and the option to liquidate the organisation
At the time of the Voluntary Administration, the Equestrian Australia High-Performance (HP) program, which manages Australia’s elite level athletes and Olympic programmes, was transferred under the oversight of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) but would still have required the sport’s governing body to nominate the equestrian athletes for Tokyo 2020 by 3rd February 2020.
This problem now seems to have been resolved with the Olympic Team Nomination & Selection By-Laws amendments approved by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC)
“This means the AOC will have authority to Nominate and Select athletes to a team should EA be unable to do so” says the update from the Equestrian High Performance Programme
“We have also received confirmation from the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) that, in order to ensure the current suspension of Equestrian Australia (EA) has limited impact on our riders participating at the Tokyo Olympic Games, they have amended the Olympic Team Nomination & Selection By-Laws”
“The AOC have stated this provides certainty that eligibility, nomination and subjective criteria have not changed and the process for selection and nomination is relatively safeguarded, ensuring our riders can continue with their Olympic preparations with confidence. Equestrian High Performance will continue to work closely with the AOC regarding the Selection Policies and the process and will share these with our stakeholders when they become available”
