Falsterbo Horse Show ends deal with Al Shira’aa

Just one month after signing a six-year sponsorship agreement with Al Shira’aa Stables, the Falsterbo Horse Show has announced the termination of the deal. Al Shira’aa was set to become the title sponsor of the event and the Falsterbo Derby from 2025 onward.

The mutual decision to end the contract followed intense public backlash in Sweden, where the show faced accusations of sportswashing due to Al Shira’aa’s links to Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan and its Abu Dhabi base.

Al Shira’aa Stables also sponsors the Hickstead Derby in the UK and will become title sponsor of the Hamburg Derby in Germany from 2025. The organisation hosts its own CSI4*-W event in Abu Dhabi as well.

In a press release on March 27, 2025, Falsterbo organisers stated that the agreement was made with good intentions but admitted they had failed to communicate the purpose of the partnership clearly. “The situation escalated to a point where the debate overshadowed what we all love – the sport and the event,” the statement said.

Jana Wannius, President of the Falsterbo Horse Show, described the reaction as unfair: “We were confident that Al Shira’aa’s involvement would enhance these traditional events. But the hatred and threats – directed at Al Shira’aa, Sheikha Fatima, and myself – were unjustified.”

The Falsterbo Horse Show will go ahead as scheduled from 5–13 July 2025.