XI FIP World Polo Championship
Tournament History
Federation of International Polo (FIP) founders Marcos Uranga and Glen Holden saw it was vital to establish an international championship because they knew the best way for a sport to grow was through international activities.
The creation of a World Polo Championship—of which there have been ten so far—has been the most important of the Federation’s keys to success in publicizing the game and creating greater public awareness.
To have the largest possible number of countries participating, the early FIP organizers decided to limit competition to teams rated 10- to 14-goals. The then revolutionary idea of split strings of ponies was also devised to mitigate quarantine and shipping issues. This method assigns matched strings of ponies to each team.
The hosts of World Polo Championships change with each round. These are agreed in advance so as to have a 14-goal handicap international tournament. The countries looking to host must go through a bid process.
Host countries must have appropriate facilities, accommodation and above all adequate polo ponies for all the players in the tournament.
Sydney will play host to the XI FIP World Polo Championship. This will be the second time that the tournament has been held in Australia, the first time being in 2001 in Melbourne.
