World polo has confirmed that it would send "its best players to the Olympics if the sport was one day to participate in the Games, but an age cap hasn't been ruled out," according to Rod Gilmour of the London TELEGRAPH. The Federation of Int'l Polo recently submitted an application to be included on the 2020 Games program in Tokyo and "although it was never likely to be make the shortlist, FIP’s intention was to start the process of a possible return after five previous appearances." There had been a "lack of understanding in the sport" over how polo would be conveyed at a major Games, with the possibility of the sport's best players missing out and handicap limits imposed to "make it a more level-playing field due to the small number of nations playing at the top level." FIP CEO Alejandro Taylor said, “We believe it was important to show our commitment to get back polo in the Olympics and applying as an additional sport was a way of doing so. Our application says that the best athletes will participate, therefore this means that participating nations will be invited to send their best team." FIP President Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers said that one option "could see an age cap introduced." He said, “An alternative would be to propose an age level that all players had to be 25 or under, which could ensure that there was a more level playing field.” Meanwhile, FIP views its inclusion as a "demonstration sport" at the World Equestrian Games as “an important step towards the inclusion of polo in the Olympics" (TELEGRAPH, 10/19).
