Chovgan is the world’soldest known competitive team sport, in which players on horseback use malletsto swat a ball through the opposing side’s goal posts.
Iran had earlier opposedAzerbaijan’s attempts to officially register chovgan with UNESCO as a purelyindigenous sport, arguing that polo is an international game and Azerbaijan hasno right to claim that it originated there.
Mohammad-Ali Najafi, thehead of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said ina letter to the UN agency that “Iran strongly requests the rejection” ofAzerbaijan’s application to register chovgan as an entry on the IntangibleCultural Heritage of Humanity list.
Afghanistan, Pakistan andIndia are among the countries that also have a claim on the game.
ANN.Az
