COMMUNICATION FROM THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE 

It is with great disappointment that the Organising Committee of the International Eventing of Le  Pouget decided to cancel the 2020 edition of “Les Internationaux  du Coeur d’Herault”  which  were to take place from the 11th to the 15th of November 2020.  
For a few weeks now, the difficulties have been multiplying : the impossibility for some foreign  officials to come, the prohibition of catering to riders, volunteers and officials, the obligation to  organize  the  event  without  public,  implementation  of    one  way  zones  and  circuits  to  avoid contact...  
Nonetheless, we have done everything possible to overcome these constraints and we  believed  we could make it happen.  Unfortunately, on Thursday,  facing the very rapid growth of the pandemic, the Prime Minister  decided to put the Hérault department in the maximum health emergency zone.  
The new constraints linked to this situation make the organization of the event really difficult  and we do not think we will be able to overcome all of them.  
We  are  also  forced  to  ask  for  new  administrative  authorizations  to  validate  our  health organization, but nothing makes us think we will have them.  
On  the  other  hand,  the  ministerial  decree  placing  our  department  in  the  maximum  health emergency  zone,  authorizes  the  Prefect  to  strengthen  the  constraints  even  more,  such  as limitating  movements  within  an  area  of  100  kilometers,  expending  the  hours  of  the  actual curfew or again prohibiting all major sportive event such as ours.  
Today, we have already engaged a lot of money in the organization of this event and we can not  continue,  taking  the  risk  of  new  directives  prohibiting  the  event  at  last  moment.  It  is  the  economic survival of our structure that is at stake.There is eventually, the importance we give to everyone’s health and security. The pandemic is growing really fast in our department. There is a real risk of people, riders, volunteers, officials and therefore their family to catch the virus on our event. We chose not to take the risk and want  to protect everyone from this virus.  
Our thought goes to the riders. They had a reduced and restricted competitive season, many of  them  were  waiting  for  this  event  to  come,  for  others,  it  was  the  occasion  to  qualify  for  championships. More than 200 riders already trusted us and asked for participation.  
We  also  think  about  our  volunteers  for  whom  this  competition  is  a  real  time  of  pleasure,  of  sharing, of exchange but also a time of real dedication. We think about our officials : some of  them have been faithful for many years and we were waiting impatiently to see them again.  
Finally, we think of our partners who bring us a precise and indispensable help, and mainly the  Occitania  Region,  the  Hérault  Department  and  the  Community  of  Communes  of  the  Hérault  Valley.  
Within  the  Organization  Committee,  the  employee  team  is  particularly  saddened  by  the cancellation  of  this  competition.  Every  year  they  give  all  their  energy  to  organize  this  competition as well as possible and it is a challenge and a joy for them to welcome the riders. 

Taking this decision was very difficult but necessary. We now want to look to the future and to be part of the dynamic to have a very beautiful edition in 2021.