It is the first time ever that Falsterbo Horse Show changes its name. A press release announces the six-year agreement with a new principal and title sponsor from the United Arab Emirates. The company is Al Shira’aa Stables, which Abu Dhabi’s royal family is behind.
The message has led to strong reactions on social media, reports Sydsvenskan. In the comments section on Falsterbo Horse Show’s Facebook page, people write, among other things, that it is a “scandal” and that it is so -called sports swashing.
Jana Wannius, chairman of the Falsterbo Horse Show, disagrees.
“I want to say that claim is absolutely wrong in my world,” he tells TV4 News.
“Is passionate about equestrian sports”
She points out that Swedish riders regularly compete in the United Arab Emirates and that people in equestrian sports in Sweden do business with countries in the Middle East.
– Then comes a young woman who certainly has a lot of money with who is passionate about it goes equestrian and wants to join as a sponsor in a major European competition and then it suddenly becomes the world’s sports swashing. I wonder what does she need to “sportswasha” for?
The woman he is referring to is HH Sheika Fatima Bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Naya, which is part of Abu Dhabi’s royal family. She runs Al Shira’aa Stables and has previously entered as a sponsor in Hickstead Derby in the UK and Hamburg Derby in Germany.
Insures: the competition is not affected
The Falsterbo Horse Show has been accused of “selling his soul” on the occasion of the sponsorship agreement. Jana Wannius also strikes back against that statement.
– What do you mean by that? This competition will be in exactly the same way it has always been.
He believes that it is a natural part of the sport’s development that a sponsor from the United Arab Emirates steps into the Falsterbo Horse Show. And he is not worried that the collaboration will affect the crowd flow or the reputation of the competition.
– Not a dew.
Johan Fyrberg, secretary general of the Swedish Equestrian Association, emphasizes that Falsterbo Horse Show himself chooses his commercial partners.
“But of course we also see that it raises questions based on the fact that there are challenges with human rights in the United Arab Emirates. However, there are no easy issues to deal with. On the part of the union, we have had a dialogue with the National Sports Federation, and there are no sanctions neither from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Swedish Sports Federation against the United Arab Emirates, “he writes in a comment on TV4 News.