The Federation of International Polo (FIP) is the international federation representing the sport of Horse Polo, officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee. The FIP was founded in 1982 by representatives of eleven national polo associations, and it represents the national polo associations of more than 80 countries. Its principal aim is to enhance the international image and status of polo.

In addition to organising international tournaments, the FIP develops international tournaments for children, conducts umpiring and coaching seminars, encourages participation in the sport at all levels and ages, and makes the international rules of polo through a cooperative agreement with the Asociación Argentina de Polo, the Hurlingham Polo Association of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States Polo Association.

History

In 1978, Marcos Uranga organized the first international polo tournament for clubs. It was held in Buenos Aires, with representatives from polo clubs throughout South America. Inspired by the success of the tournament, Uranga began considering the idea of competitions between countries.

By the early 1980s, motivated by the desire to broaden the scope of international polo and reinstate its Olympic status, Uranga (who became president of the Argentine Polo Association) suggested an international organization of polo-playing countries. Uranga and former US ambassador Glen Holden had become friends, and he asked Holden for help. An initial meeting was held in Buenos Aires, and by April 1982 a federation was created with the polo associations of twelve countries. Its headquarters were in Argentina because that country was considered to have the most experience in organizing tournaments. It was suitable for polo practice, had many horses, and many foreigners attended the annual Argentine Open. Uranga was the FIP's first president, a position he held for 15 years.

The federation was created by Uranga and Holden on November 25, 1982, in Buenos Aires with representatives of the national polo associations of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Spain and Zimbabwe. Its principal aim was to enhance the image and status of polo at the international level. In December of that year, the Argentine Polo Association invited the national polo associations of the twelve countries to a meeting to establish an international group that would promote international competitions, obtain recognition from the International Olympic Committee, standardise the rules of the sport, develop it worldwide, and support the breeding of polo ponies. When the FIP was founded, Uranga said that one of his primary objectives was to bring polo players together to enhance the sport. The federation was accepted as a member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) in October 1992 at the association's general assembly in Monaco.

The FIP is a non-profit organization registered in Uruguay at the Ministry of Education and Culture and governed by Uruguayan law. It is known as the Federación Internacional de Polo in Spanish, hence its acronym FIP. Uranga stepped down as FIP president in 1997, although he remained active in the federation. Its second president was Glen Holden.

IGF The International Chovgan Federation (IGF) for Chovgan was established on 2 February 2024. The first IGF World Chovgan Championships was held in Azerbaijan in November of 2023. Azerbaijan national and Morocco in the final and Poland and Uzbekistan in the 3rd place. First IGF European Chovkan Championship was held in 3–7 June 2025.

Presidents NameCountryTermMarcos Uranga Argentina1982–1998Glen Holden Sr. United States of America1997–2006Patrick Guerrand-Hermès Morocco2006–2009James Ashton Australia2009–2010Eduardo Huergo Argentina2010–2012Dr. Richard T. Caleel United States of America2012–2014Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers United Kingdom2014–2018Horacio Areco Argentina2018–2022Piero Dillier Switzerland2022–present

Variant Arena Polo Beach Polo Grass Polo Snow Polo

Membership

+ Member countries by type and zone Country Type Zone Argentina Full – A B Australia Full – B D Austria Full – A C Azerbaijan Corresponding C Bahamas Corresponding A Barbados Corresponding A Belgium Full – C C Bolivia Contact B Brazil Full – B B Brunei Corresponding D Canada Full – B A Chile Full – B B China Full – C D Colombia Corresponding B Costa Rica Full – C A Czech Republic Corresponding C Dominican Republic Corresponding A Ecuador Corresponding B Egypt Full – C E El Salvador Contact A England Full – A C Finland Corresponding C France Full – B C Germany Full – B C Guatemala Full – C A Hong Kong Contact D Hungary Contact C India Full – B E Indonesia Full – C D Iran Full – B E Ireland Full – C C Italy Full – B C Jamaica Corresponding A Japan Full – C D Jordan Corresponding E Kazakhstan Full – C C Kenya Corresponding E Korea Corresponding D Kuwait Full – C E Lebanon Corresponding E Liechtenstein Contact C Luxembourg Contact C Malaysia Full – B D Malta Corresponding C Mexico Full – B A Monaco Full – C C Mongolia Full – C D Morocco Full – C E Netherlands Full – C C New Zealand Contact E Nicaragua Corresponding A Nigeria Full – B E Norway Contact C Oman Full – C E Pakistan Full – C E Paraguay Full – C B Peru Full – C B Philippines Full – C D Poland Contact C Portugal Full – C C Qatar Corresponding E Romania Contact C Russia Full – C C San Marino Corresponding C Saudi Arabia Full – C E Singapore Full – C D Slovakia Full – C C South Africa Corresponding E Spain Full – B C Sweden Full – C C Switzerland Full – B C Thailand Full – C D Tunisia Corresponding E Turkey Corresponding C Uganda Contact E Ukraine Full – C C United Arab Emirates Full – C E Uruguay Full – C B United States Full – A A Uzbekistan Full – C E Zambia Contact E Zimbabwe Corresponding E

Types Full — 48 Category A — Countries where polo is more developed — 4 Category B — Countries with more than 100 registered players, excluding Category A — 14 Category C — Countries with up to 100 registered players, excluding Category B — 30 Corresponding members — 22 Contact members — 12

Zones Zone A — North and Central America — 11 Zone B — South America — 10 Zone C — Europe — 28 Zone D — East Asia and Oceania — 12 Zone E — Africa and West Asia — 21

FIP events World Polo Championship (Men / Women) Polo at the Summer Olympics Polo at the Pan American Games Polo at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games Polo at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games Polo at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Polo at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games FIP Snow Polo World Cup Invitational : https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_del_Mundo_de_Polo_en_Nieve_de_la_FIP FIP European Polo Championships FIP Ladies European Polo Championship FIP Super Nations Cup FIP Ambassador's Cup FIP Children's Championships European Championship : https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campeonato_Europeo_de_Polo :es:Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo

Non-FIP events PIPA Snow Polo World Cup Tour PIPA Beach Polo World Series Ezra Cup Mannheim May Market

World championships NumberYearHostWinnerI1987 Argentina ArgentinaII1989 Germany United StatesIII1992 Chile ArgentinaIV1995 Switzerland BrazilV1998 United States ArgentinaVI2001 Australia BrazilVII2004 France BrazilVIII2008 Mexico ChileIX2011 Argentina ArgentinaX2015 Chile ChileXI2017 Australia ArgentinaXII2022 United States SpainXIII2026 United Arab Emirates

European championships Source:

Men The European championship is a 6–8 goal tournament for all European FIP member countries. It was introduced in 1993 based on an idea by Reto Gaudenzi, the Swiss founder ambassador of the FIP who created the St. Moritz Snow Polo Tournament. The European championship's handicap provides an opportunity for European players and patrons to participate in a FIP event and represent their country. Due to Piero Dillier's work as zone C director, the event has grown in popularity. The European championship is unique in the close proximity of the European countries, which makes it easier for national federations to send ponies and players to the host country. It is the most valuable tournament, after the World Polo Championships. In 2018, during the XII FIP European Polo Championship and II FIP Ladies European Polo Championship (both at the Villa a Sesta Polo Club in Italy), the organization had a record attendance of European polo teams and countries.

+European championshipsYearTeamsHostGold medal matchWinner1993France Germany Switzerland Spain England ItalySt. Moritz, SwitzerlandEngland vs. ItalyEngland1995Germany Switzerland Spain Sweden Finland France Netherlands England BelgiumAntwerp, BelgiumEngland vs. GermanyEngland1997England Italy Spain Switzerland Netherlands Sweden Austria Germany FranceMilan, ItalyEngland vs. ItalyEngland1999England Italy Switzerland Germany France Belgium Ireland Spain NetherlandsChantilly, FranceEngland vs. Ireland England2002Belgium England France Germany Italy Netherlands Spain Sweden SwitzerlandRome, ItalyFrance vs. NetherlandsFrance2005Italy England Germany Netherlands Spain Ireland Belgium France Amsterdam, NetherlandsItaly vs. EnglandItaly2008Belgium England France Germany Ireland Italy Netherlands SpainHamburg, GermanyEngland vs. BelgiumEngland2010France Spain Austria England Germany Hungary Italy Netherlands Slovakia SwitzerlandVienna, AustriaFrance vs. SpainFrance2012Spain Austria Italy Germany IrelandSotogrande, SpainSpain vs. AustriaSpain2014England Ireland France Italy Netherlands Germany Austria SpainChantilly, FranceEngland vs. Ireland England2016Ireland France Italy Netherlands Germany Austria Poland SlovakiaBerlin, GermanyIreland vs. FranceIreland2018Ireland Italy Azerbaijan Switzerland Netherlands Austria Slovakia Germany France SpainVilla a Sesta, ItalyAzerbaijan vs. ItalyItaly2021Spain Switzerland Netherlands Austria Italy GermanySotogrande, SpainAustria vs. ItalyItaly 2023: 1- 2- 3-

European Men's medals, 1993–2023

FIP European Championships

European champions Final Runners-up Third place

1993, Jul 21-31 St. Moritz SUI ENG 11:3 ITA SUI

1995, Aug 17-27 Antwerpen BEL ENG 8:2 GER SUI

1997, Sep 05-14 Milano ITA ENG 9:3 ITA ESP

1999, Sep 18-26 Chantilly FRA ENG 6:4 IRL GER

2002, Sep 06-15 Roma ITA FRA 6:5,5 NED SWE

2005, Aug 26 - Sep 04 Vreeland NED ITA 9:6 ENG NED

2008, Sep 04-14 Hamburg GER ENG 7:3,5 BEL FRA

2010, Sep 03-12 Ebreichsdorf AUT FRA 10:8 ESP ENG

2012, Sep 07-16 Sotogrande ESP ESP 8:2 AUT IRL

2014, Sep 04-14 Chantilly FRA ENG 6:3 IRL FRA

2016, Aug 26 - Sep 04 Berlin GER IRL 7:4 FRA GER

2018, Sep 20-30 Villa a Sesta ITA ITA 8:4 AZE IRL

2021, Sep 12-19 Sotogrande ESP ITA 6:5 AUT ESP

2023, Sep 01-10 Düsseldorf GER ESP 9:6 AZE GER

2021: Originally planned on 2020, Sep 10–20 in Baku AZE first postponed to 2021, Sep 01–12, finally relocated on 2021, Jun 03 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

FIP Ladies European Championships

European champions Final Runners-up Third place

2017, Apr 30 - May 7 Chantilly FRA ITA 5:4 FRA GER

2018, Sep 20-30 Villa a Sesta ITA GER 9:4,5 ITA NED

2021, Sep 22-26 Milano ITA ITA 6,5:6 ENG IRL

2023, Jul 03-09 Punta Ala ITA GER --- ITA FRA

Women 2017 – Chantilly, France (4 teams) Winner: Italy Runner-up: France Third place: Germany Fourth place: England 2018 – Villa a Sesta, Italy (4 teams) Winner: Germany Runner-up: Italy Third place: Netherlands Fourth place: France 2021 - La Mimosa Polo Club, Italy (4 teams) Winner: Italy Runner-up: England Third place: Ireland Fourth place: Germany

Women's medals, 2017–2023

Other FIP tournaments Children's polo