Rule 33 · USPA Rulebook 2026
Unsportsmanlike conduct
What counts as unsportsmanlike conduct and the card system that punishes it: yellow cards, two minutes off, red cards and suspensions.
What is unsportsmanlike
Unsportsmanlike conduct, including but not limited to the following, shall not be permitted. • Appealing to the Umpires or Officials • Unwelcome talking to an Umpire • Vulgar or abusive language • Disrespectful attitude toward any official, player, coach, or spectator • Arguing with Umpire(s) or other officials • Inappropriate behavior by any member of a team organization • Delay of game for a player or mount • Unnecessary tack time out • Swinging the mallet in a windmill or helicopter type fashion as in appealing for a foul • Dangerous riding as described in Rule 26 and 26A • Improper use of the mallet as described in Rule 28 • Rough or abusive play as described in Rules 27 and 28 • Deliberately striking another player or a mount • Excessive violation of the whipping rule • Hitting the ball after the whistle or horn has sounded • Intentional or reckless hitting of the ball outside the safety zone • Knowingly striking the ball when it is off the field of play • Recklessly striking a ball during play in such a way that it may cause injury to a spectator, official, player, mount, or damage property
The Umpire will follow the procedure outlined below:
Yellow cards
Yellow Card: The Umpire shall immediately assess a yellow card against a player who demonstrates unsportsmanlike conduct as described above.
The player’s first yellow card (offense) in a game will result in a penalty and may increase or decrease an existing penalty’s severity. Any subsequent yellow card or red card will also result in a penalty and may increase or decrease an existing penalty’s severity.
A second offense will be a second yellow card and the player will sit out for the following two minutes of play with no substitute at a location designated by the Umpire and/or the Host Tournament Committee.
A third offense will result in a third yellow card and the player will sit out for the following two minutes of play with no substitute at a location designated by the Umpire and/or the Host Tournament Committee or it may, if sufficiently severe, result in a red card and suspension for the remainder of the game with no substitute allowed for the next four minutes of play, as described in subparagraph (2)(i.) below.
If a player leaves the penalty box for any reason before his or her suspension is concluded, an appropriate penalty will be assessed against that player’s team and that player will be returned to the penalty box to sit out the remainder of his or her original suspension and the following two minutes of play with no substitute. A yellow card may also be assessed that player if the Umpire(s) in their discretion determine that he or she deliberately left the penalty box prematurely.
Red cards
Red Card: A player’s third offense, if sufficiently severe, may be a red card, as described in subparagraph (1)(c.) above. A player’s fourth offense shall, without exception, be a red card. A red card in a game will result in suspension for the remainder of the game with no substitute allowed for the next four minutes of play. After that, a substitute will be allowed for the balance of the game and the player will remain suspended for the player’s next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team with a substitute allowed. All substitution rules apply. This penalty may be increased by the Host Tournament Committee and/ or the Association. The Umpire(s), in their sole discretion, may assess two or three yellow cards or a red card with imposed penalties as described above for a player’s first, second or third offense.
Conduct complaints
In addition to and separate from the provisions of this rule that require various suspensions for excessive yellow or red cards, players are subject to a Conduct Violation Complaint by the Chief Operating Officer, Chairman of the Association, or member of the Executive Committee under the USPA’s Disciplinary Procedures Policy for misconduct resulting in the issuance of one or more yellow or red cards at any time.
After the game
If a player demonstrates unsportsmanlike conduct after the game ends, the Umpire(s), in their sole discretion, may award that player either two yellow cards, three yellow cards, or a red card, depending on the severity of the unsportsmanlike conduct. If the player is assessed two yellow cards for unsportsmanlike conduct after the game ends, he or she must sit out for the first two minutes of play in his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team with no substitute allowed for those two minutes of play in that game. If the player is assessed three yellow cards for unsportsmanlike conduct after the game ends, he or she must sit out for the first four minutes of play in his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team with no substitute allowed for those four minutes of play in that game. If the player is assessed a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct after the game ends, he or she shall be suspended for the entirety of his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team with no substitute allowed for the first four minutes of play in that game.
Carrying over
Cumulative effect of yellow or red cards: A player who is in the penalty box at the end of a game shall begin his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team in the penalty box for the unexpired time of his or her original two-minute suspension. A player who receives three yellow cards during a game without receiving a red card shall begin his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team with the status of a player who has already received a yellow card. Yellow or red cards assessed for unsportsmanlike conduct after the game ends are separate from, and not to be added to, yellow or red cards assessed during the game for purposes of determining whether there should be a partial or full suspension from the player’s next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team. However, if the player is required to be partially or fully suspended from his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team as a consequence of yellow or red cards assessed during the game and that same player is required to be partially or fully suspended from his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team as a consequence of yellow or red cards assessed after the game ends, the two suspensions shall be served in sequence with the most severe one to be served first, even if that requires partial or full suspension from the player’s next two games of equal or higher handicap for the same team. For the avoidance of confusion, substitutes do not acquire the yellow card status of the player for whom they are substituting. However, the suspension of any player from all or part of any game as the result of that player being assessed one or more yellow cards or a red card may not be avoided by the substitution of another player for that player.
Suspensions for accumulated yellow cards
Additional suspensions for excessive yellow cards during a two-month period or calendar year:
For purposes of this provision, each calendar year will be divided into six two-month periods: January 1 – February 28; March 1 – April 30; May 1 – June 30; July 1 – August 31; September 1 – October 31; and November 1 – December 31, and polo will be divided into four tiers: 8-goal and below (“Low Goal”); 9-goal – 15-goal (“Medium Goal”); and 16-goal and higher, exclusive of the entire Gauntlet of Polo® (“High Goal”); and the entire Gauntlet of Polo® (“Gauntlet”).
Two-month yellow card suspensions: Any player who receives 5, 8, 10, 11 or 12 yellow cards in a single tier of polo during a given two-month period shall be suspended from his or her next game for the same team in that tier of polo immediately following his or her 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th, or 12th yellow card, respectively. Any player who receives 8 yellow cards in all tiers of polo during a given two-month period shall be suspended from his or her next game for the same team immediately following his or her 8th yellow card.
Calendar year yellow card suspensions: Any player who receives 12 yellow cards in a single tier of polo during a given calendar year shall be suspended from his or her next game for the same team in that tier of polo immediately following his or her 12th yellow card. Any player who receives 16 yellow cards in all tiers of polo during a given calendar year shall be suspended from his or her next game for the same team immediately following his or her 16th yellow card.
Suspensions imposed for excessive yellow cards during a two-month period or calendar year under this rule shall be from the suspended player’s next game for the same team in the same tier of polo or in all tiers, if applicable. If any suspension from any player’s next game under this rule is imposed on a player whose team in the game in which the suspension is imposed is not at the time officially entered or participating in an as-yet uncompleted event or series of events in the same tier of polo, the suspension from that player’s next game shall be served during the player’s next game for any team in that tier of polo or in all tiers, if applicable, provided that (1) it is in an event of equal handicap to or higher handicap than the event in which the triggering yellow card was issued; and (2) it is a USPA Event if the triggering yellow card was issued in a USPA Event.
Injured or departing players
(1) When a player who is required to serve time in the penalty box is unable to do so because he or she is injured, his or her remaining team members must play without using a substitute for that suspended player during the time he or she would have served in the penalty box, and they must play during that time with a cumulative handicap for those remaining players (including any substitutions) that is no higher than the cumulative handicap the original remaining team members had when the suspended player was suspended. Only the suspended player may be substituted for when his or her penalty box time has elapsed unless substitution for another player is allowed under another applicable rule. (2) A player may not leave the field of play during the course of a period without the permission of the Umpires except to change a pony, a mallet, or for a legitimate reason. Unauthorized departure from the field will result in an appropriate penalty to be determined by the Umpires in their discretion. That penalty may be accompanied by the issuance of one or more yellow cards or a red card, to be determined by the Umpires in their discretion.
Next game when the team is not entered
Notwithstanding that certain provisions of this rule limit suspensions from all or part of any next game to the suspended player’s “next game (or two games) of equal or higher handicap for the same team,” if any suspension from all or part of any player’s next game (or two games) under this rule is imposed on a player whose team in the game in which the suspension is imposed is not at the time officially entered or participating in an as-yet uncompleted event or series of events of equal or higher handicap, the suspension from all or part of that player’s next game (or two games) shall be served during the player’s next game (or two games) of equal or higher handicap for any team, as the case may be. The same is true with respect to a player’s yellow card status in his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team under subsection 33(b)(3).
Which games count
Definition of “next game (or two games) of equal or higher handicap”. As used in this Rule 33, the meaning of the terminology “next game (or two games) of equal or higher handicap” depends on whether the incident precipitating the suspension or yellow card status in question occurs during or after a Club Event or during or after a USPA Event, as those terms are defined in the USPA Tournament Conditions. When a player is suspended for all or any part of his or her next game (or two games) of equal or higher handicap or receives an enhanced yellow card status for that game as the result of one or more yellow card(s) or a red card issued him or her during or after a Club Event, that suspension (including any unserved time in the penalty box) or enhanced yellow card status must be served or accepted in the player’s next game (or two games) of equal or higher handicap in a Club Event or a USPA Event that is not a consolation game, the first round game in a subsidiary event, or a shootout. When a player is suspended for all or any part of his or her next game (or two games) of equal or higher handicap or receives an enhanced yellow card status for that game as the result of one or more yellow card(s) or a red card issued him or her during or after a USPA Event, that suspension (including any unserved time in the penalty box) or enhanced yellow card status may only be served or accepted in the player’s next game (or two games) of equal or higher handicap in a USPA Event that is not a consolation game, the first round game in a subsidiary event, or a shootout.
Serving a full-game suspension
Full game suspensions for a red card or excessive yellow cards. When a player receives a full game suspension for a red card or excessive yellow cards, that suspension must be served in an event that was included on a publicly available schedule at the time the red card or the triggering cumulative yellow card was issued. In order to serve the full game suspension, the player must attend the game from which he or she is suspended and report his or her presence to the Umpire(s) before and after the game. The service of every full game suspension under this rule must occur in a game that is pre-approved by an ad-hoc committee comprised of (1) a representative of USPA Umpires LLC; (2) a representative or designee of the USPA Executive Committee; and (3) a member of the Host Tournament Committee for the Event in which the suspension is to be served. In considering the adequacy of that game, the committee shall be mindful of the provisions of this rule and whether the suspended player will be playing for the team from which he is suspended in ensuing games.
Red card complaint
Additional Potential Penalty for Red Card. When a player is issued a red card, a Conduct Violation Complaint will automatically be filed by the USPA COO. The USPA Executive Committee will determine whether to issue charges against the player and whether to temporarily suspend the player pending resolution of the charges. The player must serve the full game suspension associated with the red card, and additional penalties may be imposed.
Unserved suspensions
Unserved full or partial game suspensions. Any full or partial game suspension that has not been served within a one-year period due to lack of opportunity or otherwise must be served within thirteen months of issuance of the triggering yellow or red card in a game that is pre-approved by an ad-hoc committee comprised of (1) a representative of USPA Umpires LLC; (2) a representative or designee of the USPA Executive Committee; and (3) a member of the Host Tournament Committee for the Event in which the suspension is to be served. In considering the adequacy of that game, the committee shall be mindful of the provisions of this rule and whether the suspended player will be playing for the team from which he is purportedly suspended in ensuing games.