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Opposite:
Juan Zubiaurre
takes the ball in an APPL
exhibition at Deauville
Polo Club, France
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the next play straight away. The aim is to
eliminate dead time – we can’t just be
waiting for something to happen. After you
score a goal, you have to run back to defend
quickly – the same happens when you are
attacking, or when you start the chukka. The
game never stops and that is fundamental
for what we are trying to achieve in polo. We
want to keep people entertained, especially
those watching on TV.’
APPL’s success has been noted by many
polo organisations and, after months of
rallying cries for the sport to change, the
Argentine Polo Association (AAP) moved in.
P O L O N E E D S T O C O N T I N U E E V O LV I N G
– M A N Y O F T H E R U L E S A R E O U T D AT E D
A N D R E S T R I C T I V E
It announced in August that certain changes
would be introduced in the Argentine Triple
Crown to encourage fast, open polo and
create a more attractive spectator sport.
Many of these modifications echo APPL
rules: no blocking, penalties for slow play,
castigation of overly vocal players and
blowing only dangerous challenges. The
most notable change is the elimination of
the throw-in to restart play – a rule taken
from Tanoira’s league. The match will start
with an initial throw-in, as is customary, but
this will not be done when the ball goes over
the boards. Instead, the team that did not
send it out will restart the game with an
indirect shot. To make it easier to determine
which team hit it out, the horse will be
considered a continuation of the player.
Polo needs to continue evolving; many
of the rules are outdated and restrictive,
and the APPL offers a way of showing what
those changes might look like. ‘Anything
that makes polo more dynamic, easier to
commercialise, and improves the spectacle
as a whole is great and should be supported
by everyone,’ says Mac Donough. ‘We then
have to decide which changes are the best
– but change is needed.’
