Jessica Kürten suspended until 6th January 2009

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in the case involving horse Castle Forbes Maike ridden by Jessica Kuerten (IRL) at CSIO La Baule (FRA) in 2007.

The decision of the FEI Tribunal rendered on 7 May 2008 is confirmed and the appeal filed by Jessica Kuerten against this decision is dismissed. The suspension pronounced by the FEI Tribunal and lifted by the CAS on the request of the rider is reinstated from 15 December midnight. This means that Jessica Kuerten will be suspended from competition as of 16 December 2008 to 6 January 2009. Moreover, the rider is ordered to pay CHF 10,000 as a contribution towards FEI’s legal fees and expenses. All other requests are dismissed.

“The FEI welcomes the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is not surprising,” FEI Secretary General Alex McLin said. “The FEI judicial process is fair and respects the rights of the parties. The CAS now routinely confirms this, which is encouraging, and should be seen as such by those who seek justice before the FEI Tribunal. In this case the CAS panel needed fewer than three days of deliberation to reach this conclusion. While of course no two cases are ever the same, this is a positive and noteworthy trend.”