Lorenzo Lecci Lopez offers us his second hypothesis on the development of padel in France : Create a federation of padel independent of the FFT.

In an interview with the magazine Grand Chelem, Lionel Maltese, in charge of economic development within the executive committee of the FFT, indicates: "For me, the padel is a complementary practice and increases the range of offers ofExperiences hedonic for racquet sports' .

During the interview that Lionel maltese also granted me, the French researcher compares the situation of padel basketball and the emergence of 3 × 3 (a form of playing basketball, often in the street). Thus, he considers the padel as a sport in its own right, of course, but with the FFT, we see it more as an activity “complementary" tennis.

Le padel is a sport in its own right

To the question "the padel can it be considered as a technical complement to tennis? », Respondents are divided, but a majority stands out quite widely. 63% of respondents think that it is impossible to associate the padel and tennis, and defend the fact that the padel should be seen as a sport in its own right.

Although some see the practice of padel an opportunity to improve "your volley", "his little game", "his understanding with his partner", the evidence is that it is impossible to consider the padel as an alternative practice of tennis.

Le padel must be considered as it is, as a sport in its own right with its particularities. Baptiste Poey, co-founder of Padel Sport Events:

“That's kind of the message everyone tried to get across at the start. ", he recognizes that the FFT, in 2014, had a sluggish start in setting up and organizing the padel in France. But since then things are very different with “a clear investment by the FFT in the padel".

« We do not necessarily find what we feel in tennis. ", for Laure Moreau, President of the Communication Commission of the Yvelines de Tennis FFT Committee. The padel is complementary to tennis. ”The sensations are different, and both sports have everything to gain from working together”Explains Laure Moreau who is part of the one who believes in padel.

Other members of the FFT or leaders of tennis clubs find it difficult to necessarily accept the appearance of a new racquet sport in the territory. A brake ?

Are we doing too much for the padel ? Not enough ? Not good enough? These are questions that go beyond opinions. Because the padel remains a sport to be “in the making”. Compared to tennis, the padel remains very modest, even if we are on a very positive slope. Is the FFT a great federation to develop this sport? Its software, its policy, are they adapted to the situation?

Uneven support between licensed and affiliated clubs

The objective of the FFT by developing the padel is to revitalize their tennis clubs by allowing licensees to have a wider offer at their disposal. The tennis authority therefore grants financial aid to tennis clubs that build tennis courts. padel in their sports facilities.

"PAt the moment, the private clubs do not benefit from it, but only the tennis clubs ”.

This sentence is spoken by Melissa Martin, player of padel professional, ranked 3rd French player in the WPT rankings, and winner of the FFT Padel Tour 2019.

This fact is consistent with the stated objective, but does not really coincide with the objective of promoting the padel, as a sport in its own right throughout France. If the clubs of padel are not helped by the federation, it is very difficult for them to be profitable, and big risks are taken by the entrepreneurs (who are generally very passionate about padel).

These are the people who have the deep desire to develop the padel, but by depriving them of subsidies, the FFT affirms its objective to boost its number of redundant workers, and not that of purely developing the padel.

Asked about this, Laure Moreau, president of the Communication commission of the Yvelines Committee of the FFT, told me that the FFT would not help a club 100% padel who would like to set up, because " one of the missions of the FFT is to support its affiliated clubs! ". And as a result, the qualified clubs seem to be forgotten. This has the merit of being clear.

“The FFT must invest more in the padel, insofar asù this investment would be put in place for the development of padel. For the moment, she is investing to patch up tennis. " Julien Menuel, fan of padel, is quite categorical and seems angry with the FFT. According to him, the fact that the padel is simply used to help tennis clubs does not allow the padel to identify itself as a sport in its own right. The padel is thus neglected and does not evolve in an eco-system which would allow it to grow properly.

Reluctance of tennis clubs to padel ?

" AT today very few tennis clubs correctly accept tennis clubs Padel. This war is causing collateral damage for members Padel. ", comments Mr. Ferrara, industrial engineer and fan of padel.

A comment may be true in some clubs. But not everywhere! Quite the contrary.

The idea of ​​the FFT is therefore to give its member clubs more resources to attract new players. But some tennis purists seem not always to appreciate the appearance of a new sport in their infrastructure.

Tennis operates in a traditional environment in which the rules have been established for a very long time and change very little, thus restricting the open-mindedness of the sport.

The most traditionalist leaders may want some to curb the padel. Can we see a conflict of interest between these two sports?

Development of padel and FFT: divergent interests?

« JI'm afraid that if the padel is gaining momentum as in Spain, as the FFT seeks to contain this boom… the future will tell. " , Kristina Clément, NOX Export Director, professional player ranked 5th French player in the WPT ranking.

Like Frankenstein, the FFT could be developing a sport that would end up overshadowing it? Indeed, the different characteristics of padel previously mentioned (fun, social, economic, logistical, technical, tactical aspect) could allow this sport to develop very quickly, if the means were put in place for this achievement.

Carolina PRADO, player of padel, n ° 1 in Great Britain and coach of the national team of padel of Great Britain, is formal during a subsequent exchange to its response to the questionnaire. For her,  "There are many interests in tennis which are not compatible with a massive expansion of padel. Football and futsal each have their federation… and both are football ”.

The FFT sees in the expansion of padel an opportunity to give a rejuvenated and modern image of its sport, and above all a means of boosting the attractiveness of its tennis clubs by enriching the offer. The FFT therefore has an interest in promoting padel, without however causing a massive development which endangered the historic reign of tennis in racket sports in France.

This objective is, in the short term, compatible with the interests of the padel which has yet to make itself known in France, but what if the taste of padel What did Spanish society know in the years 2000-2010 spread to French society in the 2020s? The FFT would restrain the development of padel so that the padel can't overshadow tennis.

Articles L131-1 and following address the role of the sports federation approved by the Ministry of Sports. No article obliges the federation to engage all means in the development of a sport. Article L131-9 indicates "Approved sports federations participate in the implementation of public service missions relating to the development and the Ddemocratization of physical and sports activities. " So if the padel in the eyes of the leaders of the FFT and that competition between the two sports arose, the FFT could quite simply restrain the development of the padel, see even prevent it from growing.

Once again, we remain under the assumption that the padel must emancipate. And this subject is subject on the table. The creation of the association of clubs padel Privates is a new tool that shows that there are malcontents… even if we don't have to throw everything away.

In case the padel was really growing, would it be possible to see two major sports sharing a federation? For Nicolas Hervé de Beaulieu, “Other federations are already doing it, I don't see why çit won't work ”, but in reality, all major sports have a federation totally committed to the defense of its sport.

For Ruben Lopez, lover of padel in Spain, the situation is clear, we must create a French federation of padel : " The padel needs a federation that supports and defends the padel in all spheres (economic, advertising, and competitions). ".

This master's student in law in Madrid underlines an important aspect: all sport needs a public entity that can defend its individual interests. However, if two sports which do not have the same interests share a federation, conflicts of interest will appear. If the padel was finally becoming more popular than tennis, how would the FFT react? Cohabitation would not be viable if the padel was growing.

Abroad, a misunderstanding of the French situation

In Spain, the padel has developed very rapidly under the control of the FEP (Spanish Federation of padel). However, the situation in France seems very particular to the foreigners I interviewed: they do not understand how the tennis federation can have obtained the management of tennis by the Ministry of Sports. As can be seen from the table below, five of the six foreign respondents (four Spaniards, one British and one Argentina) replied “to create a federation of padel »As the best development hypothesis of padel in France.

For some of them, the situation even seems absurd: “It's as if the licenses of judo and karate are confused. ", commented to me an official in the field of sport in Spain who wished to remain anonymous. Tennis and padel have completely different characteristics, and their only common point is ultimately that these two sports are racquet sports.

Mandatory support from the Ministry of Sports

On February 16, 2014, during the general assembly of the FFT at Roland-Garros, the padel is adopted unanimously in the statutes of the FFT.

A few days later, the Ministry of Youth and Sports approves the FFT to thus control the padel. As specified in Article L131-14 of the Sports Code, a single entity receives the approval of the Ministry of Sports: "In each sport discipline and for a fixed period, only one approved federation reçoit delegation of the minister responsible for sports. A decree in the Council of State determines the conditions for the allocation and withdrawal of the delegation, after consulting the French National Olympic and Sports Committee.here it is. ».

Thus, in the hypothesis that a French federation of padel should be reformed, the approval of the Ministry of Sports would be compulsory to exercise.

From his names, we can guess his Spanish and Italian origins. Lorenzo is a multilingual passionate about sports: journalism by vocation and events by worship are his two legs. He is the international gentleman of Padel Magazine. You will often see it on the various international competitions, but also on the major French events. @eyeofpadel on Instagram to see his best photos of padel !

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