Future imperfect

The entire polo community sat up and took notice when Argentine 10-goaler Facundo Pieres publicly questioned the very game that allowed him to climb to the highest ranks of play in the world. An interview with ClickPolo had resulted in a list entitled ‘FP’s 10 commandments’, listing those areas he felt strongly needed to change. Not all his suggestions were received with equal enthusiasm, however, as demonstrated by the range of responses on Twitter and Facebook.

Nonetheless, it was clear the player ranked no 2 in the world was not attacking the sport, but trying to motivate the powers that be to take action to support it and help it grow. Pointing out, while he was in Florida, that a number of the suggestions he had proposed were not self-serving and, in fact, worked against his own interests, he agreed that the sport was bigger than he was, but said he felt it was important to use his standing to make the game better for players at every level.

‘Some of the rules of polo are over 100 years old,’ he said. ‘But the game has changed and so must the rules, so as to reflect those changes. I’m hoping to stir things up and get some influential people talking to each other.’ Pieres stressed that he won’t have the time himself to implement the changes he requested; when he’s in town – whether that’s Buenos Aires, Wellington or London – he’s there to play polo. But he said he hoped there would be a strong enough reaction from within the polo community to push for those improvements he believes are so desperately needed. Adolfo Cambiaso has already offered to meet with him in Florida to discuss amendments that will positively affect the growth of the sport internationally.

The polo superstar seemed to dial back on some of the ideas he initially offered, however.

‘When I look back on my recommendations,’ he admitted, ‘I realise now that some of them won’t work. I’m just trying to get a conversation going in the hope the polo associations will listen and take some action. I don’t think you can tell a player how much he can charge or how many horses a team can have, but it would be good to level the field so teams can compete more evenly.’

‘A salary cap is unworkable in polo,’ contended one polo enthusiast on Twitter. Other sports organisations can employ caps, but polo-team rosters often change from tournament to tournament, making it too complex to implement. And such organisations also enjoy an influx of millions of dollars in television revenue, which is divided among the team owners. Unfortunately, this is not the case in polo.

Questioned as to whether he would favour limiting the number of 9- or 10-goal players on a team, Pieres pointed out that he and his 10-goaler brother, Gonzalito, had played together without achieving resounding success. ‘You can’t restrict the players or tell the patron whom he can or cannot hire,’ he says.

But some progress is essential, he believes. ‘The handicap system is not impartial – this is one of the fundamental changes that needs to be made,’ he agreed in response to another tweet.

And he was adamant about his view of the current umpire arrangements. ‘You can’t have an umpire work the Argentine Open in the afternoon after officiating at a 12-goal game earlier in the day,’ he said. ‘There should be eight or 10 who officiate at only high-goal polo and nothing else. The associations should work out an arrangement so they are paid well enough that they don’t have to umpire any number of lower-goal games to make a decent living.’

Pieres indicated that he and Cambiaso were willing to meet with officials from any of the three large polo associations, the USPA, HPA and AAP, in an effort to improve the sport. ‘There’s been plenty of talk over the years,’ he said, ‘but no action is ever taken. There are fewer and fewer teams playing in the British and US Open – and that means fewer jobs for players.’

He was no less critical of polo in Argentina, suggesting there should be more teams competing in the Argentine Open, the field should be extended to 10 teams and the season in Palermo should be longer. Disappointed that the AAP doesn’t make a bigger deal out of the Open final, he called on the association to take up some of the many suggestions that have been offered to it to make it competitive with the likes of the Super Bowl and Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

A clearly frustrated Pieres concluded, ‘We have the top polo players in the world competing at a field right in the middle of Buenos Aires. There should be a week-long series of social activities leading up to the final and a great event following the last match. It’s time for the Argentine Polo Association to take action to ensure the future of our sport.’

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