This is bad news for all lovers of padel : the Portugal will not participate in the world de padel which will take place at Doha (Qatar) from November 15 to 20, 2021.

Unlike the European Championships Padel in Marbella, where the International Federation of Padel (FIP) had sanctioned the Portuguese Federation of Padel (FPP) by denying it the possibility of doing so, this time, it is the FPP which announces, through its President, Ricardo Oliveira, that Portugal will not be one of the nations present at the worlds next November.

Another bad news for the padel and the players. But the President of the Portuguese federation explains the reasons.

Qatar, a non-member country of the FIP

NO, we will not be in Qatar under any circumstances.

Everyone knows why. The championships in 2020 were conceded to Qatar when there was according to the FIP, 2 other member countries who had asked to organize the event.

We are not comfortable with the fact that a non-member country can host the World Championships.

Besides, is it in accordance with the statutes? I would like to know that. (editor's note. The QATAR TENNIS FEDERATION is now part of the list of Federations represented by the FIP on its Grand Site website)

Qatar has set dates different from those of the FIP

Let’s come back to the particularly surprising obtaining conditions:

    • On November 27, 2019, the FIP is launching a call for applications for the padel 2020 for week 42 or 43. 
    • On January 27, 2020, the FIP is launching a call for applications for the World Veteran for week 46. 
    • On January 30, 2020, the FIP declares that it has received a few applications for the World padel which will take place in week 43, either from 19 to October 25.
    • On March 3, the FIP announces that Qatar has been selected for the World padel planned finally from November 16 to 21. or nearly a month after the date initially indicated by the FIP. 

What happened to see such a shift? Imagine that Spain wanted to be a candidate and did not submit an application because the date was not suitable in October ...

The FIP did not even give an explanation. Is this transparency, respect for its members? 

Global padel 2021: Qatar confirmed!

Qatar, a country at health risk

Then, as you will remember, at the time, Qatar was the country with the most COVID deaths per capita and the most infected people per capita. (editor's note. in June 2020, Qatar held the record for the number of new cases per capita).

It would also be interesting to have a response from the FIP on this very serious situation. 

Qatar, not in line with the Olympic spirit: failure to respect women and human rights

Finally, we are firmly opposed to discrimination based on sex and the failure to respect human rights. We are not comfortable going to Qatar. We are not the only ones. Some football teams (Germany, Norway and Holland) during international matches, lifted their jerseys to protest against the participation in the World Cup in Qatar.

How was the FIP able to accept the proposal of Qatar, then not a member of the FIP, on a date which did not correspond to the specifications of the competition launched by the FIP and concerning a country which then seemed to be the most affected in terms of health? by COVID-19, not to mention its failure to respect human rights?

So, obviously Portugal does not want to endorse the behavior of the FIP.

On the other hand, the Portuguese Federation will participate in all FIP competitions if it respects the statutes and the competitions take place in safe countries. We hope to be able to participate in the World Veterans in the USA and in the Juniors in Mexico.

The FPP: by conviction

The Portuguese Federation of padel does not interfere with the positions of other federations regarding their national policies.

But of course, if we decided not to participate in this world despite our desire to participate in the party, it is because of our ethics and our convictions, which are, we are sure, the same as those of most federations.

We just chose not to look away as if nothing had happened. 

It is a citizen act. And we would be delighted if others would join us to start afresh on a healthy basis for the benefit of all. 

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.

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