 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2022) |
 Players playing polo | |
| Highest governing body | Federation of International Polo |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | The Sport of Kings[1][2] |
| Origin | Greater Iran
|
| Clubs | 90+ |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Yes |
| Team members |
|
| Mixed-sex | Yes |
| Type | Equestrian, ball game, team sport |
| Equipment | Polo pony, mallet, ball, protective wear |
| Venue | Polo field or arena |
| Presence | |
| Country or region | Worldwide |
| Olympic | Formerly (1900, 1908, 1920–1924 and 1936) |
Polo or Chovgan (Persian: چوگان) is a ball game that is played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports.[7] It originated in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran), dating back over 2,000 years. Initially played by Persian nobility as a training exercise for cavalry units, polo eventually spread to other parts of the world. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ball through the opposing team's goal. Each team has four mounted riders, and the game usually lasts one to two hours, divided into periods called chukkas or chukkers.
Polo has been called "the sport of kings",[8] and has become a spectator sport for equestrians and high society, often supported by sponsorship. The progenitor of polo and its variants existed from the 6th century BC to the 1st century AD, as an equestrian game played by the Iranian.[4] In Persia, where the sport evolved and developed, it was at first a training game for cavalry units, usually the royal guard or other elite troops.[5] It is now popular around the world, with well over 100 member countries in the Federation of International Polo, played professionally in 16 countries, and was an Olympic sport from 1900 to 1936.
Arena polo is an indoor or semi-outdoor variant with similar rules, and is played with three riders per team. The playing field is smaller, enclosed and usually of compacted sand or fine aggregate, and often indoors. Arena polo has more maneuvering due to space limitations, and uses an air-inflated ball slightly larger than the hard solid ball used in field polo. Standard mallets are used, though slightly larger-head arena mallets are an option.
- ^ "Preview: The Sport of Kings", CBS News Archived 10 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 5 April 2012
- ^ "Polo: the sport of kings that anyone can play" Archived 18 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Telegraph, 29 April 2010
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Laffayewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
hong 2005was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Richard C. Latham (20 July 1998). "Sport: Polo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
poloODLAwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "THE HISTORY OF POLO". argentinapolo.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Heitner, Darren. "The Economics of Polo, The Sport of Kings". Forbes. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.