Ingmar de Vos is likely to be paid in his position as FEI president after a vote at the FEI Sports Forum earlier this week (Tuesday 28 April).
The vote was taken at an extraordinary general assembly, where 59 nations were present. There were also 27 powers of attorney — totalling 86 valid votes.
The nations voted unanimously to change the statutes to allow the president to receive remuneration.
For the past 60 years the role of FEI president has always been unpaid. However, before Ingmar, members of the Royal family had held the position since the 1950s.
However, this must now pass through the FEI Bureau before being confirmed. A final decision is expected in June.
Dr Claude Nordmann of the Swiss National Federation spoke briefly after the vote, calling for a study to be conducted on salaried positions and commenting that the contents of the study would also be useful for other International Federations.
Belgium’s Ingmar De Vos took over from Princess Haya as president of the FEI after a vote in December — in which he received 98 votes out of a possible 131.
Princess Haya had been in role for eight years. She was allowed to stand again for another four-year term, but decided to step down to focus on her family and humanitarian work in Gaza.
When campaigning to become president last year Ingmar was clear on his intentions.
“The FEI is now a professional organisation that needs professionalism at all levels. Many international federations and organisations now have presidents that receive remuneration. There is nothing unusual about this. It is, in my view, not a good practice that the presidency would only be limited to volunteers that can afford it,” he said at the time.
“If the EGA were to reject, I would of course respect this and would continue as a volunteer [president], though in that case I would probably also have other occupations not related to the FEI.”
