High-profile sports often struggle to connect luxury competition with meaningful community impact. Elite equestrian events in particular face the challenge of moving beyond exclusive entertainment to create real social value. Without intentional partnerships, large sporting gatherings miss the opportunity to mobilize resources, raise public awareness, and support families facing urgent medical crises.
(L to R: Team Captain Tareq Salahi, Artemio Figueras, Nacho Figueras, & Delfina Figueras)
Photo Credit: Courtesy of International Polo Tour®
The International Polo Tour® (IPT) bridges this divide by integrating competitive polo with targeted philanthropy, cultural diplomacy, and community engagement. Through initiatives like the IPT Sunset Polo™ series and its alliance with the nonprofit We Will Survive Cancer, the organization turns athletic showcases into platforms for charitable action. In this executive Q&A, Tareq Salahi, IPT Team Captain and Founder, discusses how polo can champion cancer patient support, foster international goodwill, and expand the reach of the sport.
Q: Elite sports events often struggle to generate lasting community impact. How does the International Polo Tour® integrate direct charitable giving into competitive tournaments like the IPT Sunset Polo™ series?
Tareq Salahi: From the very beginning, our philosophy has been that an International Polo Tour event should be about much more than what happens on the field. The charitable purpose is built into the event from the planning stage—not added at the end as an afterthought. Through ticket sales, charitable auctions such as our AmaWaterways Luxury River cruise for 7 nights, specialty fundraising programs, sponsor activations, and direct contributions, we create multiple opportunities for guests and corporate partners to participate in giving, that is a win-win for everyone.
The IPT Sunset Polo™ series brings together world-class sport, luxury hospitality, entertainment, and philanthropy in one memorable experience. Our goal is for guests to enjoy an extraordinary evening while also understanding that their participation is helping real people in the community. When sport, people, and a higher purpose come together, the impact always continues long after the final chukker.
Q: Your long-standing alliance with We Will Survive Cancer focuses on direct assistance for patients and families. What makes this cause so central to the IPT mission, and how does this event translate into tangible aid?
Tareq Salahi: Cancer affects nearly every family in some way, but the burdens surrounding treatment are often overlooked. A patient may be receiving medical care while the family is struggling with transportation, childcare, counseling, groceries, utilities, Christmas holiday gift-giving, or other essential household expenses. We Will Survive Cancer is important to us because it addresses those immediate, real-life needs.
Our events give the WWSC organization a platform to tell that story, reach new supporters, and generate direct financial assistance. Fundraising initiatives—including charitable auctions, donations, and proceeds from special partnerships such as my custom crafted IPT PoloTini™ that will be featured at Hotel Burg—help support patients and families during one of the most difficult periods of their lives. For IPT, philanthropy is not simply about presenting a check. It is about using our relationships, audience, and international platform to create awareness, mobilize resources, and provide meaningful help where it is needed most.
Q: Corporate sponsors play a pivotal role in community advocacy, as seen with PR Polo’s focus on early cancer detection. How do you select partners whose values align with IPT’s philanthropic vision?
Tareq Salahi: We look for partners who want to do more than place a logo on a banner. The strongest partnerships with us are built with organizations that understand the power of sport to educate, inspire, and improve lives. PR Polo’s advocacy is a direct involvement of polo player Sabrina Giancroce who was challenged with breast cancer and is a survivor.
We also consider how either a polo player or partner treats its community, whether its leadership is genuinely engaged, and what it can contribute beyond financial sponsorship. That contribution might include raising awareness, providing products or services, activating its network, or helping us reach an entirely new audience. In this case, Sabrina supported WWSC by signing up to play and actively advocating. We want every partnership to feel purposeful. When the values align, the sponsor becomes part of the story and part of the impact—not simply part of the signage. Sabrina is a perfect example of this.
Q: The White Lotus 250th Anniversary Polo Cup highlights international collaboration alongside the Royal Thai Embassy. In what ways does polo serve as an effective bridge for cultural diplomacy and international goodwill?
Tareq Salahi: Polo is one of the few sports with a truly international language and heritage. Players may come from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds, but once they ride onto the field, they share the same traditions, respect for the horse, and spirit of competition. That creates an extraordinary setting for cultural diplomacy.
Working alongside the Royal Thai Embassy allows us to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary while honoring Thailand’s culture, history, hospitality, and longstanding friendship with the United States, they are our oldest Asian ally. Through the national anthems, Thai cultural performances, cuisine, luxury cruise travel experiences we promote, diplomatic participation, and international competition, guests experience far more than a polo match. They experience two nations coming together through sport.
Polo open doors that traditional diplomacy sometimes cannot. It brings government leaders, ambassadors, athletes, business leaders, charitable organizations, and local communities together in a relaxed and positive environment. Friendships are formed naturally, and those relationships can grow into future cultural, diplomatic, philanthropic, tourism, and business initiatives.
Q: Modern audiences expect dynamic event experiences, from celebrity matches to charity beverage partnerships like the IPT PoloTini at Hotel Burg. How do you design an itinerary that balances high entertainment with a serious charitable mission?
Tareq Salahi: The key is to make the entertainment and charitable mission part of the total equine experience rather than interrupting the experience. We want guests to feel the purpose of the evening from the moment they arrive, while still giving them a fast-paced, exciting, and highly entertaining event.
That means combining competitive polo with celebrity participation, international culture, music, cuisine, hospitality, trophy presentations, charitable auctions, and memorable moments such as our drone-show finale and official Hotel Burg after-party. The IPT PoloTini™ is another example of making philanthropy engaging and social while benefiting We Will Survive Cancer.
The evening should have energy, emotion, and a natural flow—from the first throw-in through the final drone in the sky. Entertainment attracts attention, but purpose gives the event meaning. We want our guests to leave having enjoyed an extraordinary evening while also understanding the lives their participation helped touch.
Q: Looking toward the future, including IPT’s plans for a high-tech indoor polo stadium in South Florida by 2030, how do you see the sport evolving to become more accessible while sustaining its philanthropic footprint?
Tareq Salahi: Our vision is to create one of the world’s most technologically advanced, climate-controlled indoor polo stadiums—a destination for sport, entertainment, tourism, international events, and charitable impact. An indoor arena allows polo to be presented consistently and comfortably, regardless of weather, while making the sport easier for new audiences to experience and understand.
The climate-controlled indoor polo arena will bring spectators closer to the action through large-format video, instant replays, educational content, enhanced broadcasting, digital engagement, and immersive hospitality. At the same time, a multi-use venue creates opportunities for concerts, cultural celebrations, community programs, youth education, and other equestrian and sporting events.
We are building more than a stadium. We are going to build a place for everyone of our community, if not the world, to enjoy this new cultural center for generations to come.
To learn more visit https://internationalpolotour.com
MEDIA CONTACT
Adrienne Mazzone
amazzone@transmediagroup.com
561-908-1683
Julia Didner
Julia@transmediagroup.com
