Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The 1st FIP Arena Polo European Championship will be held in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, between September 4 and 12.

Some six teams from Azerbaijan, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy and Spain will compete for the title.

The competition will be sponsored by the Azerbaijan Equestrian Federation, “Elite Horse and Polo Club,” and the World Polo.

Azerbaijan was awarded the event by the FIP (international Polo Federation) at a meeting of the general assembly in Buenos Aires in December 2014.

Azerbaijanis have a heritage of playing equestrian sports like Chovgan, the original form of polo dating back thousands of years. Chovgan is still played in Azerbaijan to this day.

This ancient game was included in UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the 8th Session of UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was held in Baku in 2013.

Since 2006, the Chovgan Presidential Cup has been held every December and plays a large role in preserving and promoting the national cultural heritage of this sport.

Azerbaijan has been a member of the Federation of International Polo since 2013.

That year, the Arena Polo World Cup was held in Azerbaijan under the theme "Bringing Polo Home," with the participation of teams from Britain, USA, Argentina, and Germany.

The second Polo World Cup was held in the country in 2014, where Argentina took first place and the European Union second. Azerbaijan stood third.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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