Altercation on the warm-up arena in Doha

According to Grand Prix, several people were directly or indirectly involved in the altercation. Among the names mentioned by witnesses were the Saudi Arabian show jumper Abdullah Alsharbatly and the British Olympic team champion Harry Charles. The latter is said to have dismounted to come to the aid of his 66-year-old father Peter Charles, who was lying on the ground. However, it is not clear how this came about.

The FEI confirmed last Thursday that it had been informed of the incident and was currently investigating it in accordance with the “established procedure”. In order for the process to run smoothly, all parties involved have been instructed to make as few comments as possible.

Abdel Said outraged

When this instruction came, Egyptian rider Abdel Said, who was competing for Belgium, had already vented his anger on his Instagram account. The situation obviously affected his preparation for the jump-off for the Grand Prix with his Holsteiner Calvaro. The pair came out of the course with 16 penalty points.

Said writes:

“I am very disappointed with my result today, ninth place. But I am incredibly proud of Calvaro for delivering an outstanding first round in the 5* Grand Prix.

Unfortunately, a colleague’s boxing match and a free-running horse disturbed my riding and made Calvaro nervous.

It is deeply frustrating and sad to see situations like this in our sport, especially at this level. There needs to be much more respect between riders and their teams and FEI stewards need more authority to prevent such incidents. Frankly, it’s outrageous.

To be clear, this has nothing to do with the tournament organizers. They’re doing a wonderful job and it’s a shame that this is happening on their course.”