An ominous sign of possible postponements of the prestigious Ibadan and Zaria tournaments now hangs over the Eleyele and the Queen Elizabeth polo grounds barely weeks to the commencements of the events earlier fixed for April this year.
Polo Royals checks in both Ibadan and Zaria confirm this anxiety as there was no or very little sign of preparation for the tourneys that remain two of the major events on the Nigerian polo season tour calendar.
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While top officials of Ibadan Polo Club are insisting that plans are still on to host the 2021 edition, he however blame the COVID-19 second stage lockdown on social gathering and both the economic and security concerns across the country, for the delay in preparations.
“We are still hoping to host our 2021 tournament because we cannot afford to cancel our biggest annual fiesta for two years running, after we were forced to called off the 2020 edition barely hours to commencement due to the pandemic,” the Ibadan chieftain who hinted of a possible shift of date to May, added.
As at the time of going to press there was no official response from Zaria Polo Club on the possibility of hosting the event this year. Polo Royals also gathered that unlike the Ibadan situation, Zaria’2021 tournament faces another challenge after the COVID-19 concerns, as the Ramadan Fasting period looms.
“We are really worried over the situation as this pandemic has completely messed up our calendar going to two years now.” an Abuja based playing member of the Zaria Polo Club mourns in phone chat with Polo Royals.
Though the officials are making efforts to host the event this year, I believe the possible way out is moving the tournament to a future date as the Ramadan Fasting is just around the corner and as you know, most of our playing members are Muslims,” he added.
Traditionally, Ibadan polo tournament is usually held in the second third week of February, while glamorous Zaria polo festival takes the centre stage around April every year.
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