Important Info – LONGINES CHI CLASSICS BASEL

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Important Info

Dear riders and grooms,

On behalf of the organizing committee and all sponsors, we are very much pleased to welcome you to the LONGINES CHI Classics Basel. Please find below key information to facilitate your preparations.

SCHEDULES

Please find the latest schedules for jumping & dressage here and note that the schedule is being updated from time to time in order to reflect relevant changes.

HORSE ENTRIES / CORRECT BEDDING

The bedding will be placed in the boxes prior to your arrival. To avoid inefficiencies and waiting times for your horses and for yourselves, please make sure – and double-check if necessary – that you have specified the correct bedding for each of your horses in the entry.

TAX OBLIGATION

Sportsmen, sportswomen and sports teams domiciled or based abroad may be liable to VAT in Switzerland if they

win prize money or receive entry fees when participating in a domestic sporting event and at the same time
generate a worldwide turnover of at least CHF 100,000 per year. For non-profit, volunteer-run sports clubs, the relevant limit is CHF 250,000.More information can be found here: tax obligation

MAXIMUM HEIGHT FOR HORSE TRUCKS IN SWITZERLAND

Please be advised that in Switzerland, the maximum permitted vehicle height, including any additional structures, is strictly limited to 4.00 meters. Several horse transporters were inspected at the Basel border in April 2025, and two were denied entry into Switzerland. Please ensure full compliance with the 4.00-meter height restriction when entering the country.

DIRECTIONS

If you enter the address of the stadium (Brüglingerstrasse 19, Basel) into your GPS, it will most likely suggest a route that includes a section with a height clearance of only 3.80 meters, which is too low for some horse transport vehicles. Therefore, please follow the directions provided in the route plan below after exiting the motorway.

ARRIVAL PROCEDURE / BIO-SECURITY MEASURES

Riders / grooms are kindly requested to book an arrival slot (exact time) indicating the riders name in the relevant following ‘Doodle form’ until Sunday 4 January 2026 (arrival slots are allocated on ‘first come – first served basis’): Doodle-Link

Due to mandatory arrival procedures for horses in accordance with the FEI regulations (examination on arrival) before entering the show ground / security zone, arrivals of horses is only possible within the defined timeframes.

First arrivals can be accepted on Wednesday of the tournament week from 07:00 AM.
Examination on arrival:
- Arrival Slot 1 (CSI5*-W, CSIU25, CDI-W): on Wednesday from 07:00 AM – 02:00 PM
- Arrival Slot 2 (CDI-W only!): on Thursday, 8 January from 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

All horses delivered outside the defined timeframes, must be accommodated in the quarantine tent until examination on arrival can carried out the following morning and, based on this, accommodation in the stables is permitted.

The following arrival procedure will apply:

1. Upon your arrival in Basel, please first do the ‘stable.ist’ check-in à it is of utmost importance that the contact details for your horses are registered up-to-date. Our dedicated volunteers will be waiting for you in the arrival zone.

2. Then, please go to check-in tent (Examination on arrival) to find out which boxes were allocated to your horses. You can also collect the access pass for the lorry parking ‘Schänzli’.

3. Then, you can go to the stables and for the handover of your boxes (size of 4 x 3 m), which were cleaned and disinfected.

4. Subsequently, you can prepare the boxes with the right bedding for your horses.

5. After that, you can unload the horses and bring them in their boxes, once they passed the examination on arrival. The examination on arrival will take place next to the temporary lorry parking (St. Jakobshalle, Brüglingerstrasse 19, 4052 Basel, Switzerland). Please bring the horses’ passports, which will be kept by the organizer from the Examination on Arrival until your check-out following the prize giving ceremony of the last competition of your category.

6. Our staff will support you to unload the material and transport everything to your barn together with you.

7. Once these steps are completed, you are requested to drive your lorry to the permanent parking position on the ‘Schänzli’ (please follow the signage and instructions of our staff on site) immediately.

HORSE INSPECTION

All horses taking part at this event must be present in Warm-up II at the first horse inspection during the following time slots:

CSI5*-W, CSIU25: Wednesday, 03:00 PM – 05:00 PM
CDI-W: Thursday, 04:30 PM – 05:15 PM

Difficult stallions are to be presented at the end of the respective horse inspection.

DECLARATIONS

Horses participating in the competitions the following day must be declared at the Show Office

For the first day of competition immediately following the official Horse Inspection, but no later than
- 07:30 PM for CSI5*-W/CSIU25 (on Wednesday)
- 06:00 PM for CDI-W (on Thursday)
The night before ideally until 06:00 PM, but no later than
- 06:00 PM for CSIU25
- 05:30 PM for CDI-W (on Friday)
- 10:30 PM for CSI5*-W
Also CSIU25 athletes must declare for each competition separately

PROGRAM, STARTING LISTS & RESULTS

Please find the program, starting lists and results (will be published as soon as possible) here on our website.

QUESTIONS & COMMUNICATION

We are setting up a WhatsApp Group for very urgent notifications only. In order to avoid ‘spamming’, please note that the WhatsApp Group is a one-way communication channel form the OC to the athletes.

Please click on this link or scan the QR-code to join the WhatsApp Group!

SITE PLAN & SECURITY

Please find the site plan of the event venue here on our website.

Please note that accreditations must be presented at every checkpoint to allow our security personnel to verify access to the designated zones.

ACCREDITATION

Please note that, according to the FEI regulations, only 2 persons per horse can be accredited as horse-owner(s).

Each person can collect only his/her own accreditation and has to sign for it. We will not hand over any accreditation for any third person.

SHOW OFFICE & EVENT CLEARING

The Show Office is managed by Hippodata (Antje Schnetter, as@hippodata.net, +49 160 5502012) and is located next to the rear entrance where you enter the stadium from the stable / warm-up area.

EventClearing (Matthias Lienhop, matthias@eventclearing.lu, +41 76 334 76 08) is responsible for collecting the entry fees in advance, settling the tournament and distributing the winnings after the event. The winning money will be paid in the week after the show to the account registered at EventClearing.

STABLE OPENING TIMES, UTILIZATION PLAN WARM-UP & TRAINING MAIN ARENA

We will provide you with two covered practice arenas as in previous years. In addition to that please note that there is a new separate lunging tent (1 horse) available all day.

Training (including working, lunging and walking) of horses is only allowed at specified times on the official and controlled exercise areas, provided by the OC from Wednesday until the conclusion of the event on Sunday.

Please find here the training times in the main arena as well as the utilization timetable for the practice arenas ‘Warm-up I’ and ‘Warm-up II’.

NEW ANIMAL WELFARE REGULATIONS AFFECT EQUESTRIAN SPORTS

As of February 1, 2025, new provisions in the Swiss Animal Welfare Ordinance came into effect. These regulations also impact equestrian sports, specifically regarding the use of cavessons and twisted or sharp-edged bits.

Article 21 of the Animal Welfare Ordinance (TSchV) specifies which equipment is prohibited for equids, especially horses. This article was expanded and, as of February 1, 2025, also regulates the use of cavessons and twisted or sharp-edged bits. The new provisions include the following:

Article 21, Letter i

The following are also prohibited for equids:

The use of the following equipment:

Bridles with serrated, cutting, crushing, or hard components, such as nosebands and cavessons with metal parts that rest unpadded directly on the nasal bone.
Twisted or sharp-edged bits, such as wire or chain snaffles.

These prohibitions apply to any human interaction with an equid, including use (riding, driving, lunging, leading), training, correction, exercising, or handling during care and husbandry.

Cavessons must have soft padding thick enough to prevent pressure points. A simple leather covering over the metal is not sufficient.

Swiss animal welfare legislation takes precedence over the regulations of Swiss Equestrian or the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) on Swiss territory. Any non-compliance, whether in private settings or at competitions, is unlawful and punishable.

LIVE CAMERAS IN THE WARM-UP ARENAS

Due to space constraints, it is unfortunately not possible to accommodate spectators at the warm-up arenas in Basel. However, to allow visitors at St. Jakobshalle to follow the action, a live broadcast will be shown on three screens in the foyer and entrance area.

RIDERS’ GRANDSTAND & RESERVED SECTOR
As we have limited capacity on the Riders’ grandstand, please use tribune seats in sector C1, when you are not participating in the actual competition. We would be grateful, if you could inform your entourage accordingly.

HORSE SOLARIUMS
Please note that in the stable we provide two Horse Solariums that you can use free of charge.

SPORTS OFFICE

The Sports Director’s office is located in the stadium next to the Show Office. Office hours are 1 hour prior to the first class until half an hour after the last class. You can reach Thomas Zweifel under +41 79 223 54 48.

SHUTTLE SERVICE & AIRPORT PICK-UP

Shuttles will be available, free of charge, for transportation from the official tournament hotel to the St. Jakobshalle, vice versa. This service will start on Wednesday and will be continued on through Sunday. Please find below the shuttle schedule

Courtesy car services will be available until one hour after the prize giving ceremony of the last competition of the day.

Athletes arriving at Basel–Mulhouse Airport or at Basel SBB Railway Station will be collected – free of charge – by a courtesy car upon their arrival, providing their arrival time, airport/railway station of departure, airline and flight/train number will be duly and timely communicated to the Organizing Committee, i.e.: by Tuesday January 7th 2025 | 18hrs00 at the very latest.

Contact e-mail address for airport/railway station pick-up requests: transport@chi-classics-basel.com or call +41 79 578 87 56.

Please be advised that the Organising Committee does not provide shuttle services back and forth to Zürich Kloten International Airport. However, there are excellent train connections between Zürich Airport and Basel main station.

Outside operation hours, please use taxi from our taxi partner Taxi Phon and call +41 61 444 44 44 (24/7)

PRIVATE CAR PARKING

As parking space at the venue is rather limited, athletes/owners and officials are kindly requested to leave their private car at the hotel parking and to use the OCs free shuttle service for their transportation between their hotel and the event venue. Parking at the venue will be available only for vehicles for which the Organizing Committee has issued a parking permit.

PHYSIO

We offer Physio services to all athletes free of charge. The service includes physiotherapy with therapy options using ultrasound, tape and Compex / electrotherapy. You can book the ‘HOA Home of Athletes’ physiotherapy at the Show Office (Antje Schnetter, +49 160 5502012, as@hippodata.net) on any day at the following times:
Wednesday 16:00 – 22:00
Thursday, Friday and Saturday 08:00 – 22:00
Sunday 08:00 – 12:00

During the five days, the HOA offers the athletes and riders the opportunity to use the infrastructure of the HOA at St. Alban-Vorstadt 33 and, if they wish, to benefit from personal training. Please ask HOA in the treatment room and see: https://hoabasel.ch

PRIZE GIVING

Normally, only the riders who achieved ranks 1-6 (1-8 for CSI/CDI WC-classes) will take part in the prize giving ceremony. Please prepare to be ready with your horses on Warm-up I in due time to be called for the prize giving ceremony.

SECURITY ZONE

Admission to the security zone (stables / warm-up arenas) is only possible with a valid accreditation.

It is strictly forbidden to manipulate, open or over-climbing the fence around the security- and stable zone. Access to these zones only through official entrances.

Our stables and other infrastructure are set in a public zone dedicated to soccer and other sports. We therefore urge all participants and grooms to strictly remain within our dedicated area and observe the signposts. Trespassers risk consequences.

During night time everybody who wants to enter the stables, has – apart from presenting his accreditation – to identify him-/herself by an official document with picture (passport, ID, driving license)

DOGS

No dogs in the main arena. Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times; offences against this rule may lead to permanent withdrawal of the accreditation of the person concerned.

HAY, STRAW & SHAVINGS

Please contact the Stable Manager Fabienne Vögtli for the supply of additional hay, straw or shavings. Her office is located in the container next to the stables.

STEWARDING

Instructions and orders by the stewards must be followed at all times.

Chief Steward Jumping: Joerg P. Gerber, +41 79 642 74 34
Chief Steward Dressage: Thomas Haesler, +41 79 743 30 38

CHI RESTAURANT FOR AHLETES & GROOMS

As in previous years the team of the CHI Restaurant is looking forward to entertain you with food and drinks free of charge. Admission is only possible with a valid accreditation.

Opening times: