Belgian De Vos joins Spaniard Javier Revuelta del Peral as the final two candidates to throw their hat into the ring for the top job in the sport as the final deadline was reached yesterday.

They join Briton and current FEI first vice-president John McEwen, French Olympic show jumping champion Pierre Durand, Danish Equestrian Federation President and European Equestrian Federation vice-president Ulf Helgstrand and Swiss businessman and horse breeder Pierre Genecand, who have all already announced their candidacies.

De Vos, Chef de Mission for the Belgian team at all World Equestrian Games from 1990 to 2010, has been FEI secretary general since 2011.

The 51-year-old joined the Belgian Equestrian Federation as managing director in 1990, serving as secretary general from 1997 to 2011, while he was also inaugural secretary general of the European Equestrian Federation from 2010 to 2011.

Revuelta del Peral is chairman of the Spanish Equestrian Federation and a member of the Spanish Olympic Committee.

The 57-year-old, who also serves as a lawyer and attorney at law for the Spanish Government, competed in the eventing competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was a member of the Spanish eventing team at the World Equestrian Games in 1994 and the European Championships the following year.

Six candidates are in the running to replace Princess Haya who has led the FEI since 2006 ©Getty Images



Both join an all-male list of six candidates to take over from Princess Haya, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, who unexpectedly announced earlier this month that she would be standing down from the role after serving as President since being first elected in 2006.

Genecand, 64, was the first to declare his intention to run for the Presidency in April, followed by 63-year-old Helgstrand and Frenchman Durand.

Durand, 59, is a former President of the French Equestrian Federation and won individual jumping Olympic gold on board Jappeloup at the 1988 Seoul Games.

At 69-years-old, McEwen is the oldest of the six candidates.

He was first elected as FEI first vice-president in 2000 and currently chairs the Endurance Committee, while he has also oversees the FEI's Bureau and its General Assembly in Princess Haya's absence, as well as serving as the director of the British Equestrian Federation's World Class Performance Programme for Equine Sports Science and Medicine.

The new President of the FEI is due be decided at its General Assembly in Baku, Azerbaijan, on December 14.

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