which in essence makes our game worthwhile

[chichi]

Mr. Boudou, now a gamekeeper, had forgotten his buy fifa 15 coins days as a poacher. An article signed by Gonzalo Tanoira published by the magazine Centauros described an incident during a tour- nament at Coronel Suárez Polo Club, when a penalty whistled by Alfredo Harriott — at the time a 10-goal handicap player and recognized as one of the best umpires in Argentina — was questioned by Daniel Boudou. Mr. Boudou expressed serious doubts as to Mr. Alfredo Har- riott’s ability to officiate as umpire, in terms that prompted Gonzalo Tanoira to finish his arti- cle with the observation, “If we allow our young players to become proficient at the expense of good sportsmanship, which in essence makes our game worthwhile, our legacy will be mea- ger and the future of polo will be very dark .”

Unfortunately, problems with umpires remained part of the Argentine polo landscape. Shortly after the start of the game between Indios-Chapaleufú II and El Paraíso at the 2005 Hurlingham Open, the match was out of control, with players from both teams seemingly more intent on fouling each other than anything else. One player, Francisco “Paco” de Narváez, suffered a serious shoulder injury. The Argentine Polo Association issued suspensions and warnings to no less than ten players, as substitutes continued rough play after Paco de Nar- vaez left the field. For Indios-Chapaleufú II, Ignacio “Nachi” Heguy was suspended for three matches, his brothers Alberto and Eduardo Heguy for one match each. All three Merlos broth- ers of El Paraíso received a one-match ban. Another four players received warnings. The Argentine Polo Association also suspended the two umpires as a penalty for allowing the game to get out of control to the point of becoming dangerous to players and ponies.

In earlier days, mistakes by umpires in Argentina were taken with gentle understanding. One of the reporters for Polo & Equitación wrote that during the Anchorena Cup, now known as the Tortugas Open Championship, one of the umpires consistently awarded a penalty from 40 yards regardless of the location on the field or the severity of the infraction. This quaint practice initially evoked an incredulous response from players and spectators alike, which soon turned to shrugs and condescending smiles.

Issues with umpires have also spread to England. The Hurlingham Polo Association saw fit to censure umpire Andrea Vianini for inappropriate behavior. Mr. Vianini was found guilty of misconduct for riding onto the polo field with a bottle of beer in his ball bag. He threw the glass bottle on the safety zone during the match, causing a hazard to people and horses.

Andrea Vianini had previously been suspended for three months and fined 2,000 pounds for playing under the influence of illegal drugs.

The Hurlingham Polo Association was not afraid to ask an outsider to look at the umpire situation. In 2006, England’s governing body invited Steve Lane, chief umpire instructor for the Polo Training Foundation of America, to observe and report on the performance of high- goal umpires in England. His conclusions make interesting reading.

Umpires’ positioning was the most pressing problem identified by Mr. Lane. “They weren’t keeping up and getting behind the play enough and were failing to position themselves so as to get the best view.”19 Other faults noted by Steve Lane were inconsistency in calls and weak field discipline. Regarding accuracy, Mr. Lane admitted that umpires will never get 100 per- cent of calls right; however, he suggested a suitable level to aim for would be 94–96 percent accuracy. “The [Cowdray Park] Gold Cup was around 80–84 percent. In U.S. high-goal the current percentage is about 94 percent, but we only have six umpires — here in the U.K. you have 13, and the more umpires you have, the more difficult is to improve the percentage.”

It would have been interesting to know what his evaluation by British umpires would have been if Mr. Lane had umpired any games in England.