South Africa’s Olympic governing body SASCOC await the SA Equestrian Federation’s final decision on the selection issues over the allocated eventing spot at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Two eventers Alex Peternell and Paul Hart met the qualifying standards. But the Federation submitted Hart’s name as the nominated competitor.
Peternell then took the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) who ruled that he was the better qualified individual with eligibility for selection.
SASCOC then referred the matter back to the Federation to review their nomination as per CAS decision of Saturday, 21 July 2012.
“The Federation maintain that in their opinion Paul Hart is the correct choice and therefore have not seen their way clear to submit a nomination for Alex Peternell,” said SASCOC Chief Exeutive Officer Tubby Reddy on Monday night.
‘Given this scenario and in keeping with Article 6.3.3 from SASCOC’s Articles of Association, the SASCOC Board has decided that we will not utilise the one slot available to the eventing discipline at the Olympic Games. The Board therefore maintains that the sport of Equestrian will not have any representation at the Olympic Games.’
“The Board is fully aware that A Peternell may go back to CAS for an urgent hearing and we are prepared to defend our case, while noting that CAS’s ruling on the new appeal may have to be adhered to by ourselves.”