The first two matches of the AlUla Desert Polo get underway this afternoon (Friday) at the purpose-built Desert Arena in the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage site of AlUla in Saudi Arabia.
AlUla Desert Polo is the first event to be staged by the Saudi Polo Federation, which was formed in July 2018.
Players from Argentine side, La Dolfina, including ten goalers Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo Mac Donough ero will be joined by six-goal Ralph Lauren model, Nacho Figueras as they fight it out for the first ever AlUla Desert Polo trophy.
The first match, which is scheduled to start at 16:15 sees Team AlUla, led by Cambiaso take on Team Al Nahla Bentley led by Cambiaso’s Uruguayan teammate, Stirling. The second match of the evening will feature the Mac Donough led Richard Mille versus Amaala fronted by Figueras.
Opening the tournament at the Thursday evening warm up event, Saudi Polo Federation Chairman, Amr F Zedan, patron of the Zedan Polo Team, thanked guests and players for attending and hinted that AlUla Desert Polo was the start of even bigger plans to come.
“I see this event as the launch pad for the type of development that we want to see here,” he said. “We are committed to the growth of polo in Saudi Arabia and have the full support of our leadership to implement plans that will assist in nurturing our sport and driving participation from grass roots to elite levels.
“AlUla Desert Polo, set in these beautiful and historic surroundings, is the perfect vehicle with which to raise the profile of polo in the country. It also demonstrates to our overseas guests here today and watching at home that Saudi Arabia is serious about the growth of sport.”
AlUla Desert Polo is held as part of the Winter at Tantora festival organised by the Royal Commission for AlUla, an organisation designed to protect and promote the historic and archeological sites at the location.
Tickets and packages can be purchased on experiencealula.com ; holidaysbysaudia.com or almosafer.com/en/winter-at-tantora
The Winter at Tantora festival will take place from December 19, 2019 – March 7, 2020 in AlUla, Saudi Arabia. Details about the festival, its line-up and exceptional surroundings can be found at experiencealula.com with tickets on sale now. To stay up to date, please follow @WinteratTantora #DesertPolo on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Notes To Editors
The weekend’s teams consist of:
AlUla Team
1- HRH Prince Abbas bin Ali Bin Nayef
2- Mohammad Al Habtoor
3- Adolfo Cambiaso
Richard Mille
1- HRH Prince Sultan Alfaisal
2- Amr Zedan
3- Pablo Mac Donough
Al Nahla Bentley
1- Sheikha Alya Al Maktoum
2- Saad Audeh
3- Pelon Stirling
Amaala
1- HSH Prince Carl von Oettingen-Wallerstein
2- George Spencer Churchill
3- Nacho Figueras
–ends–
For media enquiries about Saudi Polo Federation, please contact:
Saudi Polo Federation
Carrie McNeill Carrie@sport-54.com
+966566200640
For media enquiries about Winter at Tantora, please contact:
Kholoud almanea
The Royal Commission for AlUla
+966533330856 k.Almanea@rcu.gov.sa