During today's section, it was proposed that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games systems are also applied for Paris 2024.

The schedule for the Games is due to consist of three days for eventing, four days for jumping, and four days for dressage given the fact that the venue is shared with modern pentathlon.

When it comes to jumping, there was a suggestion to revert to the pre-Tokyo competition order and run the team competition before the individual, which from a course designer perspective is easier to manage and will mean less pressure on the athletes. 

According to the suggested competition schedule, the event begins at the first horse inspection, which is mandatory to horses for both team and individual competitions, followed by the reinspection - for those who were not able to pass the first inspection - and training session.

Only medical and veterinary substitutions will be allowed under the requirement of a veterinary or medical certificate. 

Belgian athlete and International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC) Board member François Mathy brought up that it will be necessary to be careful with the public perception of having a horse taken out of a competition one day for veterinary reasons and then allowed to compete again a few days later. 

He further added that owners would have invested heavily, and then may see their horse taken out. 

Stephan Ellenbruch, who is the chair of the FEI Jumping Committee, responded that transparency in the process is essential to ensure the public understand and approve the process as it is up to the vet to decide if the horse is able to compete or not. 

Only horses stabled at the Olympic stables can be substituted for the team competitions, the exact time is to be defined.

In terms of minimum eligibility requirements (MER), the number of results required will be three and the maximum number of penalties allowed is four at 1.55 metres and eight at 1.60m.

The reason to increase the minimum height is to not only boost the level and maintain a certain consistency between the riders, but also present a sport of "high-quality" and make the horses safe to participate as the riders will know the difficulty before going to the Olympics. 

The number of wild cards per event for the purpose of achieving MERs will also be increased and the first individual qualifier will be judged on penalties and time. 

Elimination of the rider will not eliminate the team - one result can be eliminated and the other two will be taken into account. 

If small countries will be able to qualify or not was one of the points raised by the participants in the Sports Forum, as not every country has the chance to qualify for the Olympics without the existence of special qualifying competitions. 

With a lot of scandals going on regarding the horse welfare in recent years, they also discussed the possibility of giving the ground jury the power to stop the combination during the course if something is not right. 

An additional judge appointed for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is also being considered so that the requirements for the Olympic Games meet the Jumping Rules requirements.

The headlines for eventing include proposals to have MERs achieved at two different events or in two different countries so that the horses will not be running in the same place twice - which has definitely raised some concerns regarding travel logistics and horse welfare standards. 

The other topics under discussion were to adapt the dressage test length to keep people interested and to fit it on one day as well as organise a trial event for judges. 

Increasing MERs in Olympic dressage from 66 per cent to 67 per cent was also in discussion, as it uses percentages rather than points to calculate the team results. 

A suggestion was made to increase the number of teams in the Grand Prix Special from eight to 10 and to remove the option that athletes can provide their own team test music - to make sure the volume and quality of the music is controlled and uniform. 

While in Para dressage, the aim is to keep the competition format as it was in Tokyo 2020, with the individual competition first, team competition second and freestyle last.

The idea of considering a judging supervisory system was also taken into consideration. 

During the question and answer session, the proposal to change the starting order of the Para dressage discipline created controversies as some delegates were arguing that putting the highest ranked athletes at the end of the competition would be unfair to those who are lower in the rankings.

An accurate competition format for each discipline taking place at Paris 2024 has not yet been concluded. 

Other decisions are expected to be finalised at the 2022 General Assembly. 

The Sports Forum is set to continue tomorrow with a session on FEI event standards, as well as sessions on the full revisions of the FEI veterinary regulations, FEI eventing, dressage and Para dressage rules.

This is to be followed by a special centenary celebration.