AN appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is likely following the FEI’s rejection of two Irish appeals after show jumper Cian O’Connor and his horse Good Luck were impeded by a member of the arena party at the European Championships yesterday.

The FEI last night rejected the second of two appeals by the Irish team following the bizarre incident in which a uniformed arena party member ran across in front of the combination as they rounded a turn to approach a fence on the Aachen course. The fence was the only one on the course to be knocked by the pair.

The extra team penalties incurred through O’Connor clipping the pole in this instance placed Ireland marginally outside the Olympic-qualifying spot it had hoped to gain at the German event.

ALL OPTIONS

Yesterday evening Horse Sport Ireland chief executive Damian McDonald vowed to exhaust all options in an effort to have the Irish team’s position reviewed, including a possible appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

He said: “We are very proud of the Irish team’s performance at the European Championships in Aachen. As regards the incident where an arena official crossed Cian O’Connor and his horse Good Luck’s tracks causing interference, we will be examining all of our options provided for within the rules of the International Governing Body the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) including a potential appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)”

FEI STATEMENT

Cian O’Connor and team show jumping manager Robert Splaine met with FEI officials into the early hours of this morning t plead their case but to no avail.

A statement from the FEI issued at 2am read:

“Following an on-course incident in which a member of the arena fence crew ran across the track as Irish rider Cian O’Connor was turning towards the 11th fence during the team Final at the FEI European Jumping Championships 2015 in Aachen (GER), the Irish chef d’equipe Robert Splaine and athlete Cian O’Connor lodged a protest. The horse Good Luck hit the fence to complete the course on four faults.

The protest was heard by the Ground Jury, who ruled that as the athlete had continued his round, they saw no reason to stop him by ringing the bell. Under Article 233.3 of the FEI Jumping Rules, the athlete had the opportunity to stop voluntarily due to unforeseen circumstances beyond his control, however he did not do so.

The Ground Jury heard explanations from Robert Splaine and Cian O’Connor, reviewed video footage of the incident, and ruled that the result would stand.

Having been notified of the Ground Jury’s decision, the Irish chef d’equipe and the athlete promptly appealed the decision to the Appeal Committee.

UPHELD

However, after a further full review of the incident, including hearing statements from all parties, the Appeal Committee ruled that the athlete had been given a full and complete right to be heard and stated that it would not overrule the Ground Jury on a field of play decision. As a result, the Appeal Committee rejected the appeal and upheld the Ground Jury decision.

The decision means that the Irish team score of 25.960 penalties remains unchanged, leaving the Irish in seventh overall, with the qualifying slots for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games going to Switzerland (3rd), Great Britain (4th) and Spain (6th).”