June 17, 2006

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) announced today that it is accepting applications for the position of a permanent FEI Secretary General.

The recruitment process will be handled by an Evaluation Panel, approved by the FEI Executive Board, consisting of the FEI President (HRH Princess Haya Al Hussein) and the two non voting Bureau Member and Attendee - the Chairman of Strategic Planning Committee (Simon Brooks-Ward) and the Chairman of the Judicial Committee (Ken Lalo).

Acceptance of applications ends on 31 July 2006. All applications must be sent to the FEI Headquarters in Lausanne. All applications should include a letter indicating interest in the position, a Curriculam Vitae and three referees who may be contacted by the Evaluation Panel. If the applicant is currently employed by a National Federation, one referee should be either the NF President or a superior officer of the NF concerned.

The FEI Secretary General is the organisation's Senior Executive. The Secretary General's position is key to ensuring Horsesport grows globally in the future. His or her mission is to effectively lead the organisation towards achieving the goals and objectives set by the FEI General Assembly within the approved budget. He or she shall further the FEI policy set by the President and implement the modernisation plan. His or her key responsibilities will be the general management of the organisation and its staff; budget planning and management; enforcement of policies and procedures; implementation of effective internal and external communication and business development.

In an effort to increase transparency and input from the National Federations, the NFs are requested to submit questions for the interview process through their relevant Group Chairman in sealed envelopes, which are to be returned for the attention of Alex McLin, FEI General Cousel, at the FEI Headquarters, in Lausanne, by 31 July 2006. These questions will be listed along with those already put forward by FEI Executive Board and the Evaluation Panel. During the interviews with the applicants, the Evaluation Panel will be free to select any question from the list; however, one question from each Geographical Group will be compulsory.

During the first week of August, the Evaluation Panel will review all the applications and draw up a short list. The interviews, including a brief presentation by each of the short-listed candidates, will take place during the third week of August at a location other than Lausanne. The interviews will be conducted by the Evaluation Panel. Questions will be uniform for each candidate. All interviews will be taped and made available to the National Federations and FEI Bureau after the nomination has been completed. One final candidate will be selected.

An extraordinary FEI Bureau meeting will convene on 28 August 2006 in Aachen, Germany, to approve the candidate for the position of the FEI Secretary General. If agreed by the Bureau, the formal announcement will be made on the same day at the FEI Word Equestrian Games, in Aachen.

Although the Evaluation Panel are yet to meet to decide the criteria, it has been generally acknowledged by the Executive Board that a sound working and practical knowledge of Horsesport is a key requirement.