FEI Co-Sponsors Fourth International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport

The international governing body for all Olympic equestrian disciplines (FEI) joined the IOC as one of five co-sponsors of the Fourth International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport in Zurich (SUI) this week.

The two-day conference, rx which was held at the FIFA headquarters on 1 and 2 November, order was also sponsored by FIFA, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the International Rugby Board (IRB).

IOC President Jacques Rogge welcomed delegates to the conference via a video message, before the official opening by FIFA Executive Committee member Michel D’Hooghe and IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

Delegates attending the conference represented a number of sports, including football, rugby, ice hockey, American football, Australian football and boxing, as well as equestrian sports.

Allen Sills, a US neurologist representing the FEI, was amongst the speakers at this week’s conference as part of a panel discussion on how professional team sports and Federations have responded to guidelines produced at the previous conference in Zurich four years ago.

“A presentation today by Paul McCrory from Australian football demonstrated that the order of magnitude of concussions in equestrian sport is higher than the incidents in soccer and American football, which tend to receive most of the focus in these injuries,” Dr Sills said after the conference. “It illustrates the great opportunities, and the challenges, for the FEI to continue to educate athletes and to continue to improve our rules and medical oversight for competitions.”

FIFA’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jiri Dvorak said: “What we are expecting is to develop very practical, simple, easy to use tools. With such powerful partners like FIFA, the IIHF, the IRB, the International Equestrian Federation and the IOC we can make a big impact.”