Amr Zedan, the President of the Saudi Polo Federation and patron of Zedan Polo Team, currently playing the Gold Cup (Dubai Open) in Dubai, has several reasons to be happy. He has already gotten a big promotion and development of polo in his native Saudi Arabia and in addition, he’s the soul and heart of the AlUla Polo Desert, a magnificent event that was launched in 2021 with the attendance of no less than the complete La Dolfina lineup, the multiple champions of the Argentine Open, who landed in the breathtaking landscape of one of the most exquisite polo destinations in the world, AlUla, in Saudi Arabia, the home of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra. And, if that’s not enough, AlUla has appointed 10-goaler and the best polo player in the world, Adolfo Cambiaso as their Ambassador.
“We are very happy; the first edition was really challenging, and now, luckily, post Covid, we managed to create, in the midst of all, the Saudi Polo Academy which has youngest graduates into players and some already playing polo now”, told Amr Zedan to PoloLine after the final day of the 2022 AlUla Desert Polo. And added: “As the Saudi Polo Federation, we are very happy and gratified to see the young boys and girls to get into the game and get involved”.
The second edition of AlUla Desert Polo didn’t saw Amr Zedan playing; instead, he watched as a spectator, proud of the results and extremely satisfied that things are developing so well for the sport in Saudi Arabia. As he remarks, “I decided to take a back seat, and let all the young players do it. I was overwhelmed, pleasantly surprised to have all this young kids to get interested in polo. And all this turned out to be spectacular; we had many people from all professions – dignitaries, fashion, politics, business, everybody’s been here. This is the result of our hard work; everybody, all my personal staff have worked hard, I am blessed with a great team, everybody has been involved”.
As President of the Saudi Polo Federation, the event was a great opportunity to sign a cooperation agreement with Mohammed Al Habtoor, the President of the United Arab Emirates Federation, as well, in order to continue to develop and spread polo in the area, and join together to do several things to make polo even bigger and more successful not only in the Middle East, but bring it out to the world. Specifically, with regards to Saudi Arabia, Amr says that “Our plan, basically, is to become ‘the’ destination for polo. I mean, everybody know that polo is what you see on the field, but there’s a lot off the field, is a lifestyle. I see Saudi Arabia as a destination. We are blessed with a country that has different topographies; the temperatures are beautiful in the midst of the summer, we are talking about improving our facilities. The way we do things in Saudi is basically go bigger at home, that’s the plan we have, and we have full support”.
He concludes: “I know next year we will have world class facilities, a green field; make it bigger and better.”