Channel Racing
Posted: Tue May 20, 2025 12:04 pm
Hi folks you might find this of use
Britain’s pigeon Olympics has been saved by Sir Keir Starmer’s Brexit reset deal.
UK and EU negotiators struck a Swiss-style veterinary deal unveiled at a London summit on Monday, which saw Britain cede fishing rights to Europe for 12 years.
But as the Government touted economic benefits there were also small victories for pigeon fanciers and ham sandwiches.
“This couldn’t come at a better time for us,” Chris Sutton, the chief executive of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association told the Telegraph.
Blackpool’s Winter Gardens is slated to host the Federation Colombophile Internationale (FCI) Olympiad in January 2028. It’s a first for Britain since the early 1990s.
There were fears Britain could be stripped of the gala event, held every two years, because of post-Brexit border checks and red tape.
The Prime Minister’s decision to align with EU plant and animal health (SPS) rules may have sacrificed some Brexit freedoms but it saved the Olympiad, albeit at the cost of a 12-year-long fishing deal.
Costly certificates and vets visits needed to travel to the UK and back to the EU again won’t now be needed, saving flocks of fanciers hundreds of pounds.
The world’s best birds, some of which can fetch astronomical sums, would not come to Blackpool if they risked quarantine on either side of the border, Mr Sutton said.
In 2020, a Belgian racing pigeon called New Kim fetched more than £1.4 million, while the second most expensive, another Belgian called Armando cost over £1 million.
Mr Sutton said: “It wouldn’t be able to happen because of the regulations surrounding pigeons.”
The Olympiad is held after the racing season. Points from that are totted up, as judges examine the condition of the racers before handing out trophies and a sash to victorious breeders.
“It is probably only once in a blue moon that we would get the opportunity to host it,” he said, adding it would be a shot in the arm to the local economy.
Britain’s pigeon Olympics has been saved by Sir Keir Starmer’s Brexit reset deal.
UK and EU negotiators struck a Swiss-style veterinary deal unveiled at a London summit on Monday, which saw Britain cede fishing rights to Europe for 12 years.
But as the Government touted economic benefits there were also small victories for pigeon fanciers and ham sandwiches.
“This couldn’t come at a better time for us,” Chris Sutton, the chief executive of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association told the Telegraph.
Blackpool’s Winter Gardens is slated to host the Federation Colombophile Internationale (FCI) Olympiad in January 2028. It’s a first for Britain since the early 1990s.
There were fears Britain could be stripped of the gala event, held every two years, because of post-Brexit border checks and red tape.
The Prime Minister’s decision to align with EU plant and animal health (SPS) rules may have sacrificed some Brexit freedoms but it saved the Olympiad, albeit at the cost of a 12-year-long fishing deal.
Costly certificates and vets visits needed to travel to the UK and back to the EU again won’t now be needed, saving flocks of fanciers hundreds of pounds.
The world’s best birds, some of which can fetch astronomical sums, would not come to Blackpool if they risked quarantine on either side of the border, Mr Sutton said.
In 2020, a Belgian racing pigeon called New Kim fetched more than £1.4 million, while the second most expensive, another Belgian called Armando cost over £1 million.
Mr Sutton said: “It wouldn’t be able to happen because of the regulations surrounding pigeons.”
The Olympiad is held after the racing season. Points from that are totted up, as judges examine the condition of the racers before handing out trophies and a sash to victorious breeders.
“It is probably only once in a blue moon that we would get the opportunity to host it,” he said, adding it would be a shot in the arm to the local economy.
