Yuri Mansur Calls Out Management, Quits Brazilian Team

Show jumping at Aachen 2026 gets underway Wednesday, August 19th, but for one athlete, the FEI World Championships are already over.

Yuri Mansur, the man in yellow and Brazil’s fifth-highest ranked rider, has withdrawn from team consideration, citing alleged team mismanagement, blackmail, and discord among other claims. His withdrawal applies to the FEI World Championships—Mansur was the traveling reserve for Brazil—as well as all future championships and Nations Cups.

Mansur posted his decision on Instagram, Sunday Aug 16:

“After more than a decade since arriving in Europe and after a long period of my life dedicated to personal growth and to honoring and representing my country I faced the worst episode of this journey today. Not that these years have been easy, far from it. I’ve had to contend with so much incompetence, a lack of capable leadership, power struggles among the athletes themselves, a total lack of commitment to what truly matters, and an absence of unity or a winning mentality. Every year, the process and the result are the same: fighting, insults, deliberate lack of communication, a lack of honest rules and procedures, favoritism, and no results…

“Of course, some of us have achieved remarkable and incredible results over the years, but as a team… it’s always the same story: ‘almost there’. I received the most deplorable treatment from this management team, the worst I have ever witnessed. I was blackmailed and mistreated. Yet, I pressed on and gave my all for this country.

“But the events of this Sunday, August 16, 2026, crossed every line regarding ethics, respect, and sportsmanship. That is why, with great sadness, I am announcing a difficult decision. As of today, I will no longer represent Brazil in championships or Nations Cups.

“To all the athletes heading to the World Championship to represent Brazil, I sincerely wish you the best of luck. I’ll be rooting for you!

“As for this management team, I feel nothing but pity.”

Mansur is currently ranked world No. 71 and has been a mainstay of the Brazilian national team for the past decade. He represented Brazil at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, the 2024 Longines League of Nations (LLN) Final, the 2022 Herning World Championships and 2018 Tryon World Equestrian Games, and individually at four World Cup Finals (2011, 2014, 2023 and 2026). Brazil’s best team finishes during his tenure include 6th place in Tokyo and 5th at the LLN Final in Barcelona. Individually, his career highlight came at the 2023 World Cup Finals, where he finished fourth.

Mansur elaborated on his decision in a statement to World of Show Jumping, revealing that he was told he would be jumping in Aachen at the Team Brazil training camp, only to be informed on Sunday, August 16, that team management had changed its mind. He alleged that this last-minute reversal was a pattern of behavior over the past decade that ultimately informed his decision.

On August 18, the Brazilian Equestrian Confederation (CBH) released a response to clarify the circumstances surrounding the final team selection:

“In June, the CBH named seven riders as part of the Brazilian selection process: Luciana Diniz, Marlon Zanotelli, Rodrigo Pessoa, Stephan Barcha, Yuri Mansur, Eduardo Pereira de Menezes and Pedro Muylaert.

“From the outset, it was established that five of the seven nominated riders would form the Brazilian squad in Aachen, comprising four competition riders and one reserve. This is standard practice in high-performance sport and was known to all parties involved from the beginning of the process.

“The final team composition remained subject to the outcome of the training camp held in Aachen from 11 to 16 August 2026, during which the rider-and-horse combinations were monitored and assessed by the technical staff. Until the final decision was made, any of the five combinations participating in the training camp could have been nominated to compete. Accordingly, no rider had been guaranteed a place on the competing team, nor had the reserve position been determined in advance.”

The selection, CBH continued, was made by international coach Franke Sloothaak and his technical staff and “particularly difficult given the high and closely matched technical standard of the riders involved.” Barcha, Zanotelli, Pessoa, Pereira de Menezes and Mansur are all top 80 world ranked riders.

The statement went on to say that Mansur left the training centre following the communication of the proposed team, prompting the appointment of alternate, Pedro Muylaert to the Brazilian squad, concluding:

“The CBH emphasises that the athlete communicated his decision before the definitive nomination of the riders, a process formalised only after the official training session and team familiarisation in Aachen. Had Yuri Mansur chosen to remain, he would have continued as a member of the Brazilian delegation.

“Technical decisions are an inherent part of every sporting season, just as an athlete’s decision to pursue a different path is entirely legitimate. The CBH regrets the outcome, thanks Yuri Mansur for his successful career and contributions to the Brazilian team, and wishes him every success in this new stage of his career.”

Muylaert will ride Gemme Villers, alongside Barcha on Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio, Diniz on Vertigo du Desert, Zanotelli on Dorette OLD, and Pessoa on Major Tom. Pessoa was originally slated to ride Prinx Van ‘t Eigenlo.