The Belgian Arbitration Tribunal for Sports ruled that Constant Van Paesschen and the horse Citizenguard Toscan de Sainte Hermelle are to be retained as active member of the team in the national jumping selection for the World Equestrian Games in Normandy earlier today.
“This is a great victory”, says Alain Van Campenhout, owner of Citizenguard Toscan de Sainte Hermelle and sponsor of Constant Van Paesschen. “We initiated proceedings because the non-selection of Constant was unfounded. It was never our intention to force our way into the team, but we could not accept this non-selection either.” Constant and his horse’s good results and his remarkable progression in the FEI rankings were not sufficiently taken into consideration at the Belgian Federation, where any explanation as to the motives of Constant’s non-selection were refused. Lawyers Elisabeth Matthys and Audry Stévenart (Stibbe) point out: “we are happy that the Belgian Arbitration Tribunal took this courageous decision, giving a clear signal to the Federation about the importance of transparent selection criteria and clear communication concerning the motives of issued decisions”