ICF Canoe Polo Committee activities Q2 2026

As we move ever closer to the 2026 ICF Canoe Polo World Championships in Duisburg, Germany from the 15 20 September preparations are going well. 

The maximum entry of 76 teams (circa 750 athletes) is now confirmed with Iran U21 progressing their visa applications at the time of writing. Live streaming is now confirmed with Two Circles as the provider. 

Greg Smale, ICF Chair of the Canoe Polo Committee, said: “Full entry means a very full playing schedule with circa 250 games almost continuously across the four pitches between Tuesday, September 15) and Sunday, September 20. Games will start early morning and finish late afternoon for the six (6) days. As there are two World Championships (U21 & Senior) overlapping each other we ensure suitable recognition of the U21s and seniors by having separate finals days. The U21s finish on Saturday, September 19 and seniors on Sunday, September 20. For the first time, this year’s World Championships will be ticketed. Seven hundred tickets (700) have already been sold for the mid-September championships! For tickets and team information please see: https://www.canoeicf.com/canoe-polo-world-championships/duisburg-2026  

Development  

On June 26 and 27 at the Police Sporting Federation Club, Cairo, the fifth edition for National Canoe Polo Championships of Egypt took place with six men and six women’s teams from the cities of Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Aswan competing for the two titles. 

In 2022, Greg together with Canoe Polo Coaching Lead Mario Perez Lopez and Paddle UK Canoe Polo Chair Steve Watts, a Grade A referee, travelled to Cairo to conduct coaching and referee courses with 10 sets of equipment having been supplied to Egypt through the sponsorship of Canoe Polo by Yupin Sports in China.  

Greg said: “A couple of weeks ago I was kindly invited to be present and together with ICF staff member Ali Hassan, Africa & Europe Continental Manager, we found a way to make it work. There are only the 10 sets of donated equipment in the country so development is not easy and training is very limited. This said real visible development is happening with a very enthusiastic and friendly group of athletes and coaches. With financial limitations the men’s competition was one day and the women the next so no athlete needed to pay for overnight accommodation. This certainly helped the participation numbers.” 

The clubs involved were:  

• Police Club – Men and Women
• Giza Yacht Club – Men and Women
• Arab Contractors SC – Men and Women
• Port Said Rowing Club - Men
• Aswan Rowing Club – Men and Women
• National Bank of Egypt SC – Men and Women
• Egyptian Rowing Club – Women

Greg continued: “Of course to compliment any development referees are needed and it was great to see some of those who passed the ICF Canoe Polo referee exam and assessment four years ago still active. There were eight female referees and six male referees present and as we ran out of time previously for practical assessments it was great to be able to confirm one additional man and one woman as ICF Grade C referees. I even got to referee a little myself which was appreciated. During the visit, the Egyptian Canoe & Kayak Federation President Major General Ahmed Kamel, the Board of Directors, Greg and Ali met several times to discuss possible future development.  

Greg added: “As I said to the President, I’m not a magician, but it’s clear without additional support the development will continue but could be aided with further equipment. The plan is to meet with the ICF Development Team and then with the ICF Canoe Polo Committee to try and find a good way forward.” 

In the men’s final the National Bank of Egypt SC defeated Police Club 2–1 in overtime with final standings:  

1. National Bank of Egypt SC  
2. Police Club  
3. Giza Yacht Club  

In the women's final, Egyptian Rowing Club defeated Giza Yacht Club 3–1 with final standings: 

1. Egyptian Rowing Club  
2. Giza Yacht Club  
3. Aswan Rowing Club 

Greg said: “Congratulations to the federation, the athletes, coaches and officials in what you have all done to date. It was really nice to be back and see the sport developing. I look forward to returning at some point in the future.”  

Basic Canoe Polo Techniques  

The ICF continues to release the new series of short educational video clips focused on Basic Canoe Polo Techniques on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.  

https://www.canoeicf.com/news/educational-videos-highlighting-canoe-polo...  

The 25-clip series consist of short, high-quality, and easy-to-follow video clips, offering a clear and practical introduction to the sport.  

The content is especially aimed at beginners, young athletes, and coaches, while also serving as a useful technical reference for the broader canoe polo community. It is being published in two languages, English and Spanish, and is completely free of charge and used in part the kayak label monies.  

As of June 18, the 13 clips released so far (25 in total) had been viewed 8,667 times. We hope you continue to find them interesting and educational and that they help you as an athlete and/or your club to develop your personal paddle skills and Canoe Polo. 

Rules 

All proposed rules changes originating in the main from the post 2024 world’s online seminar with athletes and coaches were approved by the ICF Board of Directors for commencement January 1, 2027.  

They include:  

• Synthetic hand resin to be allowed except in swimming pool venues. Natural resin not allowed.  
• The existing rules clarification document that is already online incorporated into the rules. https://www.canoeicf.com/sites/default/files/2025_icf_canoe_polo_rule_cl...  
• To stop confusion, the ejection red card will be termed simply “ejection card” and the colour will be black. This is a rare sanction card – only three issued in over 250 games at the last World Championships. It will aid commentators for competitions after 1st January 2027.  
• Referee exam will be primarily online.  
• Failure by a referee to submit their activity will exclude them from consideration for major events.  
• Referees will undergo an online rules refresher every two years if there have been significant rule changes.  

And finally following the seminar and athlete input:  

• The forthcoming two-stage shot clock will be slightly amended from that already published.  
• The 60-second first phase attack remains (was never going to be changed) but the second and subsequent attacks for teams who retain possession will be 40 seconds and not 30 as published.  
• This aligns with proportional reductions used in handball and basketball and the preferred reduction by coaches and athletes at this time. 

Greg Smale, Chair of the ICF Canoe Polo Committee