The eagerly expected 2024 Abuja Carnival Polo Tournament is set to gallop off with fanfare in the first week of December through the third week of the month at its traditional venue, the foremost Guards Polo Resort in Asokoro.
Unlike previous editions of the tournament, the 2024 carnival polo fiesta would be an exclusive affair pitting of Abuja resident horses only.
Already, expectations are high that this edition would be an exciting local derby with only Abuja based teams in a gusty quest for the four main trophies and a handful of subsidiary prizes winners and runners-up teams.
Participating teams and players would compete for top honours in four main cups categories with the President Cup topping the list as the biggest prize at stake. Other top prizes to be won during the fiesta spread over two weeks of top class competition include the FCT Minister’s Cup, and Guards Brigade Challenge Trophy.
The organizers of the annual event that is revered as one of the major highlights of the Abuja City Carnival have also packaged a handful of subsidiary prizes and awards to be given out to deserving individuals and players who distinguished themselves during the tournament.
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The decision to host the 2024 event to Abuja horses and players only was taken by the organizers and other stakeholders in an effort to deepen the on-going efforts to contain the deadly African Horse Sickness (AHS) that has been ravaging horses across the northern part of the country.
“We have taken a final decision to make the tournament an exclusive affair for only Abuja horses and teams for this year only, ” a top ranking tournament committee official confirmed over the weekend. “It was not easy to play this tournament without our fellow players and horses from other polo clubs across the country, but the decision was taken in good faith for the safety of the horses that are the biggest assets in the noble game of kings.”
At the last count, the AHS that was first noticed in late September has claimed the lives of over fifty horses across the country with Kaduna being the worse hit, forcing polo ponies into hasty quarantines to avoid the sickness described by experts as the deadliest strand to affect the country in decades.
Though some of the polo ponies that have received anti AHS vaccination are making a cautious peep to the outside with light practices particularly in Kaduna, experts insist it is not over as patrons and horse owners still need to do more to rid the virus from stables and the surrounds or a full return of the game.
Reputed for its cutting edge competition, excitement and grandeur, the carnival polo is one of the major events of the annual Abuja City Carnival that is the biggest sporting cum tourism attraction to the Nigerian capital city for decades now.
From the Federal Capital city, the galloping cavalry will proceed to the chilly city of Jos for year ending Jos Winter polo tournament that would thrill from the Christmas Day with Charity event till January 2, 2025 at the legendary General Hassan Katsina Polo Ground.