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| ITPF chief Mohammed Al Fairuz briefs the local media about the federation’s future plans during a press conference yesterday. |
Muscat: In order to promote tent pegging as a global sport, the International Tent Pegging Federation (ITPF), which has its headquarters in Oman, is planning to have 30 countries as its members by end of this year.
The international body currently has 23 member countries while it is planning to include seven more including India, according to Mohammed bin Issa Al Fairuz, president of ITPF.
Speaking to the media at the ITPF headquarters yesterday, Al Fairuz said having "more" nations on their list is not the priority but setting standards for the sport is important for the world body.
"We are not even less than a year old (ITPF) and we have got more than 20 countries as members. And that is indeed a great plus for us. But having more nations is not the only priority. Ours is a very old sport but our federation is still young. So we need to first set a benchmark before inviting more nations on board," Al Fairuz explained.
"Technically, having so many countries as members will be difficult at the moment so we are trying to add just 10 nations in a year and gradually increase it further," Al Fairuz added.
However, the inclusion of India, a top tent pegging nation would add strength to the governing body.
"We are in regular talks with India to be a member association of ITPF. I am very confident that in a few days time they will come on board as well," he noted.
New headquarters
Al Fairuz also informed that ITPF's new headquarters will be officially inaugurated in Al Nahda Towers in Azaiba on November 26 when a board meeting as well as Annual General Assembly will be held.
As part of its activities this year, ITPF will be conducting training for riders of 10 member nations from November 19.
"Six countries have already confirmed their participation and five riders from each country will take part in the training. The uniqueness about this training is that after the course, these riders will take part in a local competition here," said ITPF Vice-President Anees Al Ma'amari.
Speaking about the World Tent Pegging Championship that will now be held every two years, Al Fairuz said that ITPF has asked its member associations to submit the application for the 2016
championship.
"We have already received applications from some countries who are interested in hosting the World Cup but we will have to first evaluate the bid. We had initially planned to have it every four years but that is too long for an event so we have decided to have it every two years," he said.
When asked if Oman would again bid for the World Championship, Al Fairuz said: "That is up to the Oman Equestrian Federation. They have successfully hosted the inaugural world championship.
"So why not the second?
"However, it's not right to say much at this moment as we are expecting bids from different
countries."
Al Fairuz also said ITPF has started working on establishing relations with International Olympic Committee and Olympic Council of Asia with an ultimate aim of getting tent pegging included in the Olympic and continental events.
"It's too early to talk about tent pegging in the Olympics. But we are in talks with these federations," he said.
Meanwhile, Al Ma'amari has urged the youth in the country to be part of ITPF initiatives.
"We are looking for volunteers who could help us while we organise some of the international events here," he said.
"We have already interviewed 15 volunteers and we want to have more on board and they will all be part of ITPF," he added.
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