World Equestrian Festival
CHIO Aachen 2010,
July 9th to July 18th
24.11.2009 Contract with Main Sponsor Deutsche Bank renewed
Organisers present results of public survey - Rembrandt's saddle for the CHIO-Museum - Also in the future, the CHIO Aachen will stand for fair and clean sport
The Deutsche Bank and the CHIO Aachen have affirmed their partnership. The World Equestrian Festival and the Main Sponsor have extended their contract by another three years. The Deutsche Bank has already been supporting the world's most renowned equestrian event since 52 years. "The renewal of the contract shows that together we have accomplished to enhance the event CHIO Aachen", said Michael Mronz, General Manager of the Aachener Reitturnier GmbH. Mronz added that also thanks to the engagement of the "top brand Deutsche Bank", the CHIO Aachen has established itself on the highest sports level. The broadcast times give proof of the fact that the event has become an international premium event - today the CHIO Aachen is broadcast in 143 countries. Particularly the top class dressage sport, which the Deutsche Bank is especially committed to, benefits from this. Thus, the company is not only patron of the worldwide unique dressage stadium, but also traditional partner and title sponsor of the Deutsche Bank Prize, the dressage competition with the highest prize money in the world. "Dressage sport shows passion and precision in an exceptional union. This is what we stand for as the brand Deutsche Bank, and this is what has tied us to the CHIO Aachen for more than 50 years," said Christofer Habig, Global Head of Brand Communications & Corporate Citizenship.
In the course of the press conference on Monday, the organisers of the CHIO Aachen pointed out that also in the future, the event will continue its straightforward strategy for fair and clean sport. The visitors of the CHIO reward this approach - this is the result of a public survey which was now presented in Aachen. In July 2009, the event visitors had been interviewed by representatives of the German University of Sport, Cologne.
The survey showed that 89 per cent of the visitors are convinced that the CHIO-organisers are exhausting all their options in the fight against doping. Of course they also demand that the show organisers take a firm stand in the current discussion. Accordingly, Michael Mronz stated: "We do not want to have unsound or injured horses in our sport. The CHIO Aachen 2010 will not be carried out on the basis of the current FEI regulations, but according to the ethics of clean sport." In the course of last week's General Assembly, the FEI had decided to permit several substances for the treatment of horses shortly previous to or during an event. And also Frank Kemperman, Chairman of the Managing Board of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V. (ALRV) said: "The FEI's decision is a contradiction to our ideal of the sport." Kemperman had been in Copenhagen as Chairman of the FEI's Dressage Committee and vehemently fought against the new regulations.
The organisers were deeply satisfied with the results of the public survey, which the department for sport sociology of the German University of Sport in Cologne had repeatedly carried out on behalf of the event's organisers. The survey showed that the CHIO Aachen attracts a growing number of new customers. Today's visitors for example travel about 147 kilometres to attend the CHIO - the reference figure of 2007's survey was 114, in 2001 it was only 98 kilometres. The average age of the visitors has decreased from 44 years (2007) to 42,4. Furthermore, the CHIO Aachen has established itself as family festival: The groups in which visitors attend the CHIO have an average size of 4,2 persons. The German University of Sports stated that this result is unique among all the other big sport events that were ever analysed by the institution. The survey also contains information on the income of the visitors - and shows that the tournament has never been an elitist event, but a festival for everybody due to the moderate ticket prizes.
Also the CHIO-Museum is open "for everybody", and from now on it has one more exhibit. Nicole Uphoff-Selke, four times Olympic Dressage Champion and two-time winner of Aachen made available the saddle of Rembrandt, her legendary horse. "It is a saddle with a long history - and I cannot imagine a better place for it than the CHIO-museum", she stated. Now she has travelled to Aachen to hand the saddle over, and the CHIO organisers were more than glad about it. "Truly there are only very few sportswomen and sportsmen like Nicole", said Frank Kemperman.
With regard to the World Equestrian Festival, CHIO Aachen 2010 (July 9th to 18th), visitors can look forward to an attractive programme. Frank Kemperman introduced several novelties in the course of the press conference. There will for example be a new mode for the driving classification, the final competition for the individual and Nations' Cup rating will now be the Wohnwelt-Pallen-Marathon on Saturday. Also the vaulting will be highlighted - with a "Winners' Show" on Wednesday evening and a "Pas de Deux" as new competition.
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24.11.2009 Kemperman Chairman of the FEI's Dressage Committee
Chairman of the ALRV's Managing Board elected in the course of the FEI General Assembly in Copenhagen.
Frank Kemperman, the Chairman of the Managing Board of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V. (ALRV), has been elected Chairman of the Dressage Committee of the International Equestrian Federation FEI. Kemperman had already chaired the temporary "Task Force Dressage" in the last months. As Chairman, the 54 year-old is now also member of the 20-member Board of the Federation, the powerful "FEI Bureau".
The Dressage Committee is responsible for the management of the international sport and gives advice to the FEI not only with regard to current topics, but also makes recommendations for the general development of dressage sport. Apart from Frank Kemperman, also Margit Otto Crepin (FRA), Thomas Baur (GER), David Hunt (GBR), Anne Gribbons (USA) and Elisabet Lundholm (SWE) are members of the Committee. As Chairman of the Task Force, Kemperman had already developed several proposals regarding the reform of dressage. In Copenhagen, these proposals have now all been accepted. They include for example a new format for the Olympic Games that is supposed to make the team dressage more attractive to the spectators and a reform of the judging system which will be tested in 2010 as pilot project.
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