The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Tribunal has this week published decisions in three Endurance cases in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) involving Hallvard Sommerseth, DVM; Abdul Aziz Sheikh; and Ali Mohammed Al Muhairi.

Sommerseth, former head of the United Arab Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF) Veterinary Department, has been suspended as an FEI official for a two-year period for noncompliance with FEI Rules and Regulations and for his involvement in a number of events from which duplicate results were submitted to the FEI.

The FEI Tribunal found that Sommerseth had been “grossly negligent with regards to his duties as an FEI Official” during the events. Sommerseth had been provisionally suspended by FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez since Aug. 31, 2015.

The FEI Tribunal suspension, which prevents Sommerseth from acting as an FEI Official or having any involvement in FEI activities at a national or international level, runs until April 15, 2017. The FEI Tribunal, which also fined Sommerseth CHF 4,000 and ordered him to pay CHF 1,500 towards the costs of the legal procedure, took into account the ongoing provisional suspension imposed by Ibáñez and the period from March 12 to July 27, 2015, when the EEF was suspended