The British Equestrian Federation has confirmed to the FEI that it is withdrawing from the bid process for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games and will not be putting in a formal bid.

The FEI had received four formal expressions of interest by the Sept. 30 deadline, one from Britain, two from the United States—Wellington, Fla., and Lexington, Ky.—and a repeat bid from Bromont in Quebec, Canada.  

However, BEF Secretary General Andrew Finding has now informed the FEI that Britain will not be going any further in the bid process.

In a letter to FEI Secretary General Ingmar De Vos, Andrew Finding wrote of his “considerable regret” at the withdrawal, stating that there was insufficient time under the terms of the new bidding process for the British Federation to secure the necessary funding and identify a host venue by Nov. 15, the deadline for receipt of formal bid applications.

“While it is of course disappointing that the British Equestrian Federation has decided not to go ahead with a bid for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, we still have three strong candidates in the mix from Wellington, Kentucky and Bromont/Montreal and look forward to receiving their formal bid applications by Nov. 15,” de Vos said.

Host city candidates will be announced on Dec. 20. Candidates will make formal presentations to the FEI Bureau at the spring 2014 meeting.