With the European Dressage Championships in Moscow now less than a month away, the leaders of the Federation Equestre Internationale are becoming increasingly apprehensive. FEI officials agreed to switch the site of the championships several weeks ago, at which time the new organizing committee informed the FEI that their finances had to be reorganized too.

In addition, the Russian Equestrian Federation has a new president too. And now those same FEI officials—as well as riders and officials from their federations—are wondering if the Russians really can pull off the first European Championship they’ve hosted since 1975.

In a statement today (July 5), FEI officials said they’ve received letters of support from the regional government and from the Moscow city government, but neither of those letters mentioned funding. So today FEI officials have “asked the organizing committee and the Russian Equestrian Federation to show their financial security by providing financial guarantees for this championship by Thursday, July 7, at 2 p.m. (Swiss time).

“In addition, the FEI requires the following conditions to be fulfilled for the same deadline: 1) Proof of payment for the chartered aircraft for competing horses and traffic rights for the aircraft to be delivered to the official transport agent, Peden; 2) written confirmation that the necessary horse feed supplies have been contracted and permits organized; 3) Written confirmation of the quarantine waivers; 4) Photos of the trucks for transporting the horses from the airport to the show grounds.

“If all these requirements are not fulfilled by the deadline, the FEI will be forced to cancel the championship.”

The European Championships are scheduled to begin on July 29.