The European Dressage Championships in Moscow, scheduled for July 28\’31, have been cancelled. The event organizers could not produce the necessary proof of payment for the chartered aircraft that was slated to transport the horses to the show grounds. Also, the bank guarantee that FEI officials had asked for to guarantee the event\’s prize money and ability to suitably host the event wasn\’t delivered by the deadline of today, July 7, at 2 p.m. announced on Tuesday.

The championships\’ organizing committee is a subcommittee of the Russian Equestrian Federation, but for financial support it mainly had to rely on the city of Moscow, which did not wire the promised money.

“It’s a disaster,” a distraught Mariette Withages, head of the FEI Dressage Committee, told eurodressage.com. “Everybody has been working so hard. I have spent months on the phone and flew back and forth so many times—all for nothing.”

Ever since winning their the bid to host the championships, Russian leaders have had trouble preparing a venue and raising the funds they needed, largely due to disorganization within the federation.

The REF elected a new president earlier this year and then also moved the location of the European Championships from the city center of Moscow to the old 1980 Olympic Games venue, Bitsa, 40 minutes outside the capital. Since it hasn\’t been used for many years, the Bitsa venue was dilapidated, and FEI officials were concerned about a number of logistical issues, including footing, transportation of the horses from the airport, and housing for riders, grooms, officials, press and spectators.

FEI officials are in discussion with the leaders of several other European venues about hosting an alternative championship later this year.