POLO RULE NO 1 - HEIGHT OF HORSES
POLO RULE NO 2 - SIZE OF THE FIELD
POLO RULE NO 3 - SIZE OF THE BALL
POLO RULE NO 4 - PLAYER REQUIREMENTS
A member of a team substituted before the start of a game may join his team not later than the start of the second chukker. However, if the handicap of the substitute lining up at the start of the first chukker is lower than that of the original member, the goal advantage will be reversed in favour of the opposing team. If the substitute's handicap is higher, the original member to play off the higher handicap. A player substituted during the game may retake his place at any time. A team whose bonafides for a substitute having been established is unable to find a substitute who qualifies, may be permitted to play with one player short.
4. A. 6. Penalty for violation of the Substitution Rules
Disqualification of the team. Exception to the above rules may be permitted by the Tournament Committee in the case of exhibition games. In the case of an international tournament substitution as well as other rules will be as agreed between the competing countries’ teams.
In all official tournaments, if – after 15 minutes – a team fails to show up, it shall lose its match; and if neither one of the teams show up during that time period both the teams will eliminated from the tournament, if it is a tournament by elimination. The organising authorities of the tournament or the Umpires who are acting for them, can waive the penalty just mentioned for a team, or both teams, in case the cause for lateness is justified.
UMPIRES, REFEREES AND OTHER OFFICIALS
DURATION OF THE GAME
7. (a) Each period/chukker of the game will comprise of seven minutes. Without subtracting any time played over that . The maximum duration of a match will be six chukkers/periods. The intervals between each period/chukker will be three minutes. The interval at half time shall be five minutes.
(b) In matches of maximum length (six chukkers) played with handicaps, the team with the greater handicap will give to the team with lower handicap the total number of goals that make up the difference between the handicaps of the two teams. Goals scored under penalties and by handicap shall count as goals scored. The number of goals awarded by handicap is determined by finding the difference between the total of the handicaps assigned by the IPA to the players of one team and the total of the handicaps assigned by the IPA to the players of the other team and multiplying one sixth of that difference, times the number of chukkers (excluding overtime chukkers) in the game in question. All fractions shall be counted as half a goal. Whether or not a game shall be played on a handicap basis shall be determined by the committee. All errors regarding handicaps or the concession of goals should be brought up and discussed before the beginning of the match, since no claims will be admitted later, except for observation made to the referee of the match regarding any doubts to be resolved once the match is over.
(c) with the exception of the intervals cited above, the game should be continuous and no time shall be deducted or allowed for the change of horses during a period, except as it is called for in Field Rule No. 22.
(d) All periods/chukkers, except for the last one, will end after the established time has elapsed, as soon as the ball goes out of the game, hits the side board; is whistled dead, or thirty seconds have elapsed since the bell has rung or the bugle sounded, at which time a second bell will be rung or bugle blown and the period/chukker will end.
(e) A bell shall be rung or bugle blown to let the Umpires know that the time for the period/chukker has ended. After that, when the ball goes out of the field or touches the sidelines, the Umpire shall blow the whistle to end the period/chukker. The game shall continue until the Umpire blows the whistle to end the period /chukker. The game shall continue until the Umpire blows the whistle, except as noted for the last period/chukker in Rule 7(h). If desired, one can use a gun, horn, or any other signal instead of a bell.
(f) If there is an infraction called after the bell has rung or bugle blown, the Umpire’s whistle will end the period/chukker, and the penalty will be carried out in the next period/chukker, in which case the penalty shall be taken immediately, and the period/chukker will continue under the conditions laid down in 7(d) except that the clock will allow balance period or five seconds which ever is more
RUNNING AND STOPPING THE CLOCK
g. The game can be stopped in two ways:-
i. FIRST: When The Time Shall Not Count. That is when the clock can be stopped. To indicate this, the Umpire will give one hard whistle to the time keeper. This is used to indicate fouls, for Penalty No.7 and for cases such as Field Rule No. 11, 14, 20 and 22.
ii. SECOND: When The Clock Is Not Stopped, Even Though The Game Is Stopped. This occurs when the ball goes out of the field, crosses over the goal-line or over the boards, the sidelines or the backlines except if it is sent over the backlines by a defender. As a general rule, the game will stop automatically, although the clock continues; that is to say the ball will be hit or thrown back into the field after it crosses the backline or the sideline.
WIDENED GOALS
h. The final period/chukker will end with the first sound of the final bell/note of the bugle, regardless of where the ball is in the game, except in the case of a tie. In the case of a tie, the final period/chukker will be extended under the conditions of 7(d). If there is still a tie, in that case, after a five minute interval, the game will start again where the ball was whistled dead. For the first extra chukker the goals shall not be widened. If the game goes to a second extra chukker, the goals shall be widened to 16 yards (14.6 meters). The first team to score in the extra chukker(s) wins the game.
i. In the case of a penalty taking place in the last twenty seconds of the match, if the score is tied (or can be tied) the timekeeper, before sounding the final bell or getting the bugle blown will give a total of twenty seconds to the game which will be counted from the moment the ball is hit or hit at. If a goal is scored after the ball is put into play, the final bell should ring or bugle blown and the normal period/chukker would be ended. The match should end as always with the first sound of the final bell or first note of the bugle.
j. Once a match has begun, it should be played until the end, except when stopped by the umpires for some unavoidable cause that prohibits finishing the game the same day, such as bad light or inclement weather. In such a case, the game will be rescheduled at the first favourable opportunity; to be decided by the organising committee of the tournament and the game shall be resumed at the same point as it was when it was interrupted i.e. the same score, the same period/chukker of game, the position of the ball and the time lapsed before the game was interrupted will be deducted from the continued chukker.
HOW A GAME IS WON
8. The team that makes most goals will win the game. Goals may be awarded by handicap, penalty or Rule 7(b) or may be scored from play.
POLO HEADGEAR
9. No one shall be permitted to play without a polo helmet equipped with a chin strap or a pagri so secured that it does not fall off.
CONFUSING COLORS
10. If, in the opinion of the organizing committee, the colours of two competing teams are so similar that they can create confusion, the team lower in the draw of the tournament will play with another colour (in case both are visiting/home teams). In case one of the teams is of the home club, then the home team will change its colours.
ROUND ROBINS
11. (a) A Round Robin shall consist of three games of two or more chukkers amongst three teams. Each game to end after the first bugle/bell of the last chukker.
(b) Each team shall play two games, playing each team for one game.
(c) Which two teams play in the first game shall be decided by lot before its start. The second game shall be between the loser of the first game and the team that idled in the first game. Should, however, the first game result in a tie, the team to compete against the team that idled in the first game shall be decided by a lot. The third game shall be between the team that idled in the first game and the team that idled in the second game.
(d) The winner of the event shall be the team with the best won-lost record. A tie between two teams in any one game shall be counted as a draw for each. If two or three teams have an equal won-lost record, the winner shall be that with the largest number of net goals (i.e. the sum of its winning margins minus the sum of its losing margins). In the event there still exists a tie between two or three teams, then the team scoring the maximum number of goals shall be the winner. If a tie still results then the team having the minimum goals scored against it will be the winner. If a deadlock still exists the winner will be decided by the toss of a coin.
DEFINITION OF FOUL
Infraction of any rule is a foul. If you are a follower of 80 - 20 rule , then stuy Line of Ball & Right of Way . These two aspects will ensure clarity of mind in most of the aspects of the game. When in doubt , remember , all rules are made with safety of horses player being the ultimate objective.
DEAD BALL
Ball which is not in play any more. during game , it's umpires whistle that takes life out of ball. ie , declares the ball dead
DISQUALIFIED HORSES
Blind, lame, bleeding and out of control horses are not permitted to play.
HORSE EQUIPMENT
Side blinders and Horseshoes with outside rims are not permitted.
PROHIBITED EQUIPMENT FOR PLAYERS
Pointed or sharp Spurs , unnecessarily or excessively use whip and its use when ball is not in play
SAFETY ZONE
Area around the marke ground, don't enter if you are not a Playing player, umpire or me staff. Esp when there is a fall.A rule which most senior members break.
START OF PLAY
At the beginning of the match, the two teams shall line themselves up in the middle of the field behind the center line, each side on their respective side of the field. The umpire will throw the ball strongly between the players from a minimum distance of five meters, and the players must stay in place without moving until after the ball has left the umpire’s hand. If a player is on the wrong side of the line up, he may not make a play until he is behind a member of his own team.
CHANGE OF ENDS
Something that confuses new polo lovers most. Teams change ends after every goal. So if the red team has just score towards right , they will score next goal towards left end of the field
BALL HIT OVER THE BACK LINE BY ATTACKERS
If it goes out by defender ( his stick even if it touches his own horse before going out), a free hit 60 yards away from the spot where ball went out from, is awarded. If it goes out by the attacker, efening team takes hit in from back line.
BROKEN OR BURIED BALL
Game stops if possible at neutral time. If it breaks as the goal is score, the bigger piece of the broken ball represents the ball. If it's in its a goal or else its not
CARRYING THE BALL
No !!! You cant carry the ball in anything including your hand. Nor can u hit it with anything else other than the mallet.
RIGHT OF WAY
Well , its not for ummies . Please rea it in full an practice it uner supervision to unerstan it well. Any confusion here can len you with serious injuries.
DANGEROUS RIDING
Only parallel ride offs please. Zigzagging, Riding horse over the legs of another horse, Riding an opponent the Right of Way of another player,intimidation an crushing an opponent between two of our players (sandwich) . All these are stupid tricks are not allowed. an guess what , they don't work either.
ROUGH OR ABUSIVE PLAY
No physical abuse please. Neither of horse nor of player.
MISUSE OF THE STICK
Hitting a dead Ball, “Windmilling” “helicoptering”, not hooking from same side or from direct line behind, hooking over or under the opponent’s pony and hooking before opponent starts the act of striking the ball.
( final downward motion of the stick head towards the ball. A preparatory or upward swing of the stick is not included in the act of striking the ball.
LOSS OR BREAKAGE OF EQUIPMENT
When time is given for serious equipment problem as the following examples , the player may return on another pony.
Players Headgear
Broken girth.
Broken martingale
Broken rein, if single
Broken or loose bit.
Loose bandages or boots.
The game should not be stopped immediately, but as soon as an opportunity occurs that favours neither team for breakage of a non-dangerous nature such as:-
Lost or broken stirrup leather or iron.
Lost or broken curb chain.
Lost bandages or boots.
i
DISMOUNTED PLAYER
No . You're Not the first one to come up with such innovative idea. However , you can't run with the ball in hand to score a goal. A dismounted player can not hit the ball or intervene in the game.
ACCIDENT OR INJURY
Fall of a horse , player an serious damage to the equipment calls for a whistle to stop the game
15 minutes injury time to recover or else the team plays with substitute
DECISION LEFT TO THE UMPIRES’ DISCRETION
Any issue not covered in the Rule Book will be settled as per umpires discretion
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