The America's Polo Cup was a

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

event held annually in the United States of America from 2007 to 2010, but was declared bankrupt on September 13, 2010. The event was organized by Tareq and

Michaele Salahi Michaele Ann Schon (born Michaele Ann Holt; born October 1, 1965), formerly Michaele Salahi, is an American television personality and model. In 2010, she was a cast member on the reality show '' The Real Housewives of D.C.'' She and her then-hu ...

, with varying degrees of support from sponsors. Because the match was unsanctioned by the

Federation of International Polo The Federation of International Polo (FIP) is the international federation representing the sport of polo, officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded in 1982 by representatives of eleven national polo associati ...

, it was largely considered a spectator event. The event attracted controversy because financial issues surrounding the event, including allegations of, nonpayment of vendors, charity funding issues, and sponsors' names and marks being used without their consent.

History

2007

On May 12, the United Kingdom defeated America 7-3 at Morven Park in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Located in the far northea ...

2008

America defeated Italy 6-2 at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.

2009

On May 9 America defeated Australia 4-2 at the Capitol Polo Club in

Poolesville, Maryland Poolesville is a U.S. town in the western portion of Montgomery County, Maryland. The population was 5,742 at the 2020 United States Census. It is surrounded by (but is technically not part of) the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve, and is ...

2010

The 2010 America's Polo Cup match took place on June 12 on the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...

in Washington, D.C., with teams announced as United States and India. The advertised ticket price for the event was $95 per person. The event had an attendance of about 250 people, with food from

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants that was formed in 1972 ...

. Reports of the event stated that the players who represented India were actually of Pakistani origin and were from Florida. A spokesman for the Embassy of India stated that neither the Embassy nor the

government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

had any association with the event. The event's website reportedly identified an Indian company,

Kingfisher Beer Kingfisher is an Indian beer brewed by United Breweries Group, Bangalore. The brand was first introduced in 1857 and then relaunched in 1978 by Vijay Mallya. With a market share of over 36% in India, it is also available in 52 other countries ...

, as a sponsor. However, Kingfishers' chief executive denied that the company had sponsored the event. Yashpal Singh, the president and chief executive of

Mendocino Brewing Company Mendocino Brewing Company () is a brewery founded in 1983 as the Hopland Brewery in the Mendocino County, California, Mendocino County town of Hopland, California, Hopland, California. The brewery expanded and moved its operations to a larger Mend ...

, Kingfisher's parent company, reportedly stated, "We are not sponsoring this event and have informed the people managing this event of that, .... We have sent legal notices to this effect, and he keeps on advertising us as a sponsor. I don't know what world he's living in." On September 13, 2010, the business "America's Polo Cup Inc." filed for

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

Controversy

Allegations of fraud over the past few years has caused a number of organizations to withdraw sponsorship. In 2009,

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

terminated its sponsorship after a charity created by the Salahis was put under investigation by the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs. The organization, Journey for the Cure, solicited donations of cash or auction items as part of their mission to support science grants and other funding for cures of

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

and cancer but was never incorporated as a

501(c) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...

. In 2010, the Indian

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

, Land Rover,

Ritz Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...

, and the

St. Regis Hotels St. Regis Hotels & Resorts is a luxury hotel chain owned and managed by Marriott International. History In 1904, John Jacob Astor built the St. Regis New York as a sister property to his part-owned Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Exhibiting luxury and ...

terminated their sponsorship after the Sahali's White House gatecrashing incident.

References

External links

America's Polo Cup Official Website
{{authority control Fraud in the United States Polo competitions in the United States Sports trophies and awards National Mall Culture of Washington, D.C. Annual sporting events in the United States