British endurance racing rips up Sheikh Mohammed sponsorship deal

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Endurance GB takes 'difficult' decision because of horse welfare crisis in Middle East

By Pippa Cuckson, Equestrian Correspondent
4:05PM GMT 28 Feb 2015

Endurance GB has dropped a proposed “blanket” sponsorship deal from Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum’s Meydan corporation for this season, as the crisis about horse welfare in the Middle East sport rages on.

EGB’s decision represents a second major setback for the UAE in 48 hours, following the International Equestrian Federation’s (FEI) cancellation of the UAE’s FEI rides scheduled for March, in the wake of widespread flouting of the rules, welfare concerns and global outrage about Splitters Creek Bundy, the horse who fatally broke both forelegs in a race ride on January 31.

EGB chairman John Hudson told members: “Sponsorship negotiations with Meydan will be suspended until further notice. This has been an extremely difficult decision but we believe, in view of the current national and international sensitivities and pressures surrounding the sport of endurance, it would not now be in Endurance GB’s interests to enter into a sponsorship agreement...

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