Federation of French Polo

Instagram, Polo News

4. May 2023

In the world of equestrian sports, the Nations Cup is the flagship team event of a season and a federation for the Olympic disciplines (show jumping, dressage and eventing). The Nations Cup is the only team class in of this mainly individual sport with of course the European, World and Olympic Team Championships. Each year, a national federation can organize only one Nations’ Cup per country.

This concept, which is highly publicized, did not yet exist in polo, even though it is a team sport par excellence! The prospect of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has inspired the French Polo Federation (FFP) and the Chantilly Polo Club: the Polo Nations Cup will be held in June 2023 (from 8 to 18). It will oppose, at a 12-goal level, teams representing a nation and a region or a state selected by their federation with a maximum of two foreign players per team.

In 2024, this Polo Nations Cup will be part of the events held outside the official program organized in the wake of the Paris Olympic Games.

Polo has always been part of the Olympic family and the FIP is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Polo has been an official discipline of the Olympic Games five times. First played at the 1900 Summer Olympics, it was dropped from the program after the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. It was an Anglo-American team that won the first gold medal in 1900, then Great Britain twice (1908 and 1920) before Argentina took over (1924 and 1936).

The Polo Nations Cup will perhaps allow a gradual return to this beautiful era of polo at the Olympic Games, but above all to attract the public around the fields to continue to develop polo in France!

More infos :

Pascal Renauldon – +33 6 08 75 94 07 – p.renauldon@rbpresse.com

Justine Jacquemot – +33 6 77 74 52 94 – justine@chantillypoloclub.com

About the Federation of French Polo (FFP)

The Federation of French Polo is the governing body of polo in France. Created in 2006, its main objective is to make polo accessible to all, to promote the sport throughout France and to support by all means the common interests of its affiliated clubs.

www.francepolo.com

About the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly

In 1995, a group of friends created the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly in the village of Apremont. The grounds and grasslands were previously used for polo, having been chosen by Baron Robert de Rothschild in 1920. In 2004, the club took up the challenge of organising the Polo World Championship. All the games took place on the club’s nine fields. A relaxed, cavalier spirit continues to flourish in this countryside near Paris. The standard of polo continues to improve, with the world’s greatest players coming here regularly, attracted by the various tournaments. The development of polo in France and the Chantilly Polo Club is a shared history!

www.poloclubchantilly.com

Video © Justine Jacquemot:

In the world of equestrian sports, the Nations Cup is the flagship team event of a season and a federation for the Olympic disciplines (show jumping, dressage and eventing). The…

Europe, Polo News

Europe Zone play-offs – from 30 april to 8 may 2022 Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly

25. April 2022

With about a week to go before the start of the tournament, the five teams participating in the European Zone play-offs of the World Polo Championship at the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly have just communicated their line-ups to the Federation of International Polo: the men in blue now know their opponents and will be able to prepare accordingly

Now it is known for instance that the Ruiz Guiñazu family is represented in two teams: Switzerland and Spain. The latter team, led by the excellent Spanish professional Pelayo Berazadi, seems to be the most impressive on paper: „Spain will certainly be our toughest opponent,“ confirms Frenchman Robert Strom. The team is made up of players who all have a lot of experience at the top level. Les Bleus will know very quickly what to expect from La Roja, as the latter will be their first opponent on 30 April at 5pm.

Italy is also a strong candidate for qualification (remember that only two of the five teams will be selected for the final phase of this World Cup). La Squadra Azzura has called on two players who are well known in France: Tete Fanelli and Martin Joaquin, who won last year‘s Coupe d‘Or de Deauville alongside the French team‘s striker Sam Sztarkman. A final where he was named MVP (most valuable player). „Along with Spain, Italy will certainly be the most difficult team to play against, without underestimating of course the quality of Germany and Switzerland“, Robert Strom also underlines.

The last time Switzerland participated in the FIP Polo World Championship was in 1995 in St. Moritz. Twenty-seven years later, the Swiss Federation is delighted to be able to present once more a competitive team at the World Championship qualifiers.

As in all team sports, Germany also has a strong team. It will be led by the German No. 1 Patrick Maleitzke, who has a good experience of the top level having played in last year’s Gold Cup and Queen‘s Cup in England with no other than Clément Delfosse, the pillar of the French team. Needless to say, the two men know each other well!

Five days of competition, ten games at the end of which it will be known, on Sunday 8 May, which two teams will go to Palm Beach for the final phase of this World Championship from 26 October to 6 November 2022.

„The World Polo Championship and its qualifiers are increasingly competitive and reflect the values of our sport. We need to strengthen both the top level and amateur polo in order to provide a solid foundation for our sport. And it is with this spirit that we are delighted to contribute to its development by hosting such events,“ said Jean-Edouard Mazery, President of the Federation of French Polo

THE TEAMS: