Under the current circumstances and the impact of Covid-19 the launch of the newly designed Longines EEF Series that was planned for May 2020, has to be postponed to 2021.
The concept of the EEF Series, which was for the first time presented to the EEF member federations at the occasion of the EEF General Assembly in June 2019, had immediately enjoyed a wide interest due to its intended development potentialities. The competition has in prospect several teams competing in eight regionally organized qualifiers, two semi-finals and a final and aims at promoting the next generation of riders, officials and sporting professionals from the continent.
The Covid-19 situation has evolved rapidly. Over the past weeks, together with the parties involved, extensive consideration has been given to whether the Series shall be launched as originally planned or whether it could maybe be held later during 2020. In regard to the current restrictions affecting the live sports events across Europe and the globe, the EEF Board and the Series’ partner Longines have concluded to postpone the launch of the Series to 2021. The show line-up for 2021 shall remain the same as originally planned in 2020.
Theo Ploegmakers, EEF President: "In the last couple of months, the COVID-19 pandemic has led European governments to impose necessary measures restricting international events and transportation to protect human health and safety, which must always come first. These measures have affected heavily the European sports scene, including equestrian sports in particular, where show organizers were forced to cancel events at all levels. In recent weeks, it has become apparent that the Longines EEF Series could not be launched in 2020 as planned. The EEF and our partner Longines have thus come to the regretful, but necessary, conclusion to move the launch of the Longines EEF Series to 2021, when the pandemic will have hopefully ended. We would like to thank our partners, riders, NFs and stakeholders in Europe for their understanding and loyalty, and to thank especially the organizers who have worked incredibly hard to make the Longines EEF Series a success. We count on them for next year.”
Source: Press Release