The Bandeja Magazine Issue 2

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membership to padel and provide
a consistent global governance
infrastructure, a key factor in padel’s
Olympic aspirations.
“The preferred route was always
to continue collaboration with FIP,”
an ITF source said. “We were not
looking to replace FIP. We think
the two sports co-exist but padel
does deserves a consistent global
governance infrastructure.”
This infrastructure would include a
world ranking system, competitions
for men and women and, potentially,
additional categories for all levels
of abilities and ages.
However, no further progress
followed the MOU. The minutes
of the ITF AGM in November may
shed some light on this. They state:
“Mr Fairweather [Kelly, LTF CEO]
explained that the ITF has potential
partners willing to invest in padel
and these new resources will drive the
growth of the sport. The ITF remains
open, however, to collaborating with
all padel stakeholders despite the
previous frustrations with FIP.”
This lack of progress was behind a
number of ITF members tabling a
motion about how the federation
could get involved - and the
subsequent AGM vote. “The nations
that asked the question are still in
the same situation. What do these
nations do if they don’t have a global
governance infrastructure in place?”
said an ITF source.
David Rawlinson, then President of the
Lawn Tennis Association, echoed the
ITF’s desire for collaboration, stating
at the AGM that he supported the
federation becoming the governing
body of padel but considered that
negotiations should continue with FIP,
the APT (now A1 Padel) and WPT.
Interestingly FIP discussed what it
described as the ITF’s ‘aim to interfere
with the governance of padel’ at its
General Assembly in April 2022, when
members unanimously agreed to
‘endorse the respectful and friendly
co-operation between ITF and FIP, as
separate and independent governing
bodies’ as well as ‘reject any division
and conflict among sports institutions,
as well as any interference of the
International Tennis Federation (ITF)
with padel matters’.
Conclusion
Press have speculated that the tennis
world is concerned that its sport is
waning while padel is growing - and
they want in. May be it’s a genuine
desire to unite two brilliant racket
sports, growing one on the back of
the other (take your pick which way
round). Or, perhaps, its simply a new
sport experiencing growing pains in a
rather too public fashion. Time will tell.
rival Padel Tours in truce?
As The Bandeja was going to press news broke that rival padel circuits the
World Padel Tour and Premier Padel had opened discussions about ‘potential
positive collaborations and outcomes within the sport of padel’.
The move has huge potential to unite
the world of elite padel, ending months
of rancour and legal threats.
Background
Premier Padel launched a year ago,
backed by Qatar Sports Investments
(QSI) which is headed by Nasser
Al-Khelaifi, president of French football
club Paris Saint-Germain. Governed by
the International Federation of Padel (FIP)
and supported by the Professional Players’
Association, the tour offered big prize
money and high profile tournaments.
The World Padel Tour has roots stretching
back to 2005 and was officially named
the WPT in 2013. It is wholly owned, via
Setpoint Events, by Spanish beer company
Estrella Damm. Last year was the tour’s
biggest to date, with more than 30 ranked
tournaments in some 13 countries and
burgeoning spectator numbers.
Eyes on the prize
With padel recognised as one of the
world’s fastest growing sports there is a
lot to play for, not least lucrative global TV
rights, sponsorship deals and the kudos
of being the lead global circuit.
Following the launch of Premier Padel,
WPT moved swiftly to protect its interests
via the courts, with action launched
against QSI, FIP and the PPA. However,
after months of legal wrangling a Spanish
court rejected WPT’s case and the tour
softened its stance, increasing prize
money and offering to remove exclusivity
clauses for players signing with it.
That both tours are now discussing
working together is a major step
forward for the sport and can only be a
positive move.
A Premier Padel statement said: “In light
of the common missions of Premier Padel,
FIP, and PPA to develop the sport to the
next level globally, the parties
have agreed to enter talks with Damm
to explore the possible collaborations
and outcomes.”
So what might ‘outcomes’ look like?
The ITF has previously called for a unified
ranking system, so that may be one point
under discussion, as may a tournament
structure that offers maximum
opportunities for players to achieve world
ranking points. However, Premier Padel
has yet to run a women’s tour and there
remains disparity in prize money between
the male and female game. Tournaments
schedules are planned or in place for
2023, so it will be interesting to see how
the situation plays out.
16 thebandeja.com