PROFILE
HÉCTOR MARTELLI The polo commentator tries to fnd a solution to the long-running debate about the unifcation of rules among the international governing bodies ILLUSTRATION PHIL DISLEY
In this article, I want to explain and analyse issues surrounding the rules of polo. When discussing this particular subject, the frst thing that comes to my mind is that, unlike other sports, there is not one single set of guidelines for the game worldwide. Surprising as that sounds, this situation has come about because of four different sets of regulations that have been established by various different polo associations – not to mention the few countries that go on to apply their own rules. Looking back at the history of polo, it was the British who brought the sport from India and who were the frst to set the rules of polo, in 1873 – as they did with many other sports. Its popularity quickly spread to the United States and Argentina, in addition to other European countries. However, as time went by, the game of kings acquired it own rules according to each country in which it was played. This is why polo has become the only sport with four different types of rules, each with clear differences in content. Here, I am referring to the rules set by the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA), United States Polo Association (USPA), Asociación Argentina de Polo (AAP) and the Federation of International Polo (FIP), which has since added rules from all three associations.
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Therefore, and depending on where a polo match is played, players and referees alike need to be familiar with all these differences. To me, this is meaningless. The majority of the time, the players who take part in the most important tournaments organised by different governing bodies of the sport are the same. And, at the same time, these players are umpired by referees who are called in to do their job in the world’s most important polo destinations. As a result, both players and referees continually have to adjust to a different set of rules each time they arrive in a new country. This issue was a matter of discussion between the three most important Associations (HPA, USPA and AAP) a few years ago. Unfortunately, there was little progress on the matter and no conclusion was reached, probably due to a battle of egos and disagreements between associations. After an analysis of the rules, I can see the HPA and AAP’s are similar, but with slight differences. At the same time, if we put them together, we can appreciate these rules are the most commonly applied worldwide. Indeed, the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, UAE, Barbados and Jamaica, among others, play according to the HPA rules. South
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America, Spain – with some local ruling – and Italy play under the AAP rules. On the other hand, there are just a few countries that play under the USPA rules – namely the US, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic and some other countries in Central America. I will highlight these slight disagreements, each of which I think could be resolved if those parties interested could take the time to sit together and discuss with good intentions. 1. Line of the ball and right of way. Both associations defne the line of the ball as the extended path along which the ball has travelled or is travelling. The HPA specifes that the right of way is what gives the player the rights and obligations within ball possession – but this is also what the AAP says about the line of the ball. And so, despite appearing to be different, the principles of both rules are the same. 2. When referring to walking, the AAP says: a player in possession marked by an opposing player must remain in movement. If the player ceases movement, the umpire will stop play and award a throw-in on the spot. The HPA states exactly the same, but adds that the opposing player should be at least at a distance of two horses’ lengths and that the players in possession can tap the ball only once,
