The question deserves to be asked. While several FIP Tour tournaments are organized each year in France, some observers question the advisability of maintaining important national competitions such as the P1000 or P1500 in parallel.

Why is this debate emerging today? Simply because one observation keeps recurring on the ground: several players in the French Top 50/100 sometimes prefer to play in a P1000 or P1500 rather than participate in a FIP Tour tournament organized in France.

This is obviously not about criticizing this choice. Every player builds their career according to their own objectives. But this situation raises questions about the relationship between the national circuit and international competitions organized on French soil.

Should P1000 and P1500 tournaments be avoided when a FIP tournament is organized in France?

A change in the schedule that changes everything

For a long time, FIP Tour tournaments generally started at the beginning of the week. Qualifying rounds were often played as early as Monday or Tuesday, which naturally limited conflicts with national competitions held on weekends.

Indeed, the French players were unfortunately losing well before the weekend. This meant that players could then participate in a FIP Tour event followed by a national tournament.

But the model is evolving.

The example of the FIP Silver tournament in Bandol perfectly illustrates this new reality. For many players, the real action doesn't begin until late Friday afternoon. Under these circumstances, it becomes much easier to choose between a national and an international tournament.

And clearly, for some French players, the choice is quickly made.

The French ranking as a priority

The reason is relatively simple: sporting goals are not the same for everyone.

Many French players primarily aim to improve their national ranking. In this context, a good result in a P1000 or P1500 tournament can be more valuable than participating in a FIP tournament where the points awarded mainly contribute to the world ranking.

Again, this is not about judging this strategy. It follows a perfectly rational logic.

For a player whose goal is to join or consolidate their place among the best French players, the national circuit sometimes represents a more profitable investment than the international circuit.

An indirect impact on French FIPs

The question then becomes: by maintaining P1000 and P1500 tournaments in parallel with a FIP tournament organized in France, do we not create direct competition between two competitions which ultimately target partly the same players?

In many European countries, FIP tournaments held on national soil typically attract a large portion of the local elite. This is particularly true in Belgium, Sweden, and several other developing nations.

In France, the situation sometimes appears different.

While not the sole explanation, the proliferation of national competitions seems to contribute to dispersing the teams.

Other factors obviously come into play. The new FIP rules, registration fees, and travel and accommodation expenses also represent deterrents for players.

A topic already raised by Mickaël Grenier, president of Réunion Padel Club and founder of the FIP Silver RPC, which highlighted the constraints faced by French competitors and organizers.

Reunion Island Padel Club abandons the FIP Silver: “The new regulations will have victims; financial reality is catching up with us.”

How to limit scheduling conflicts?

One possible solution could be to limit the organization of major national competitions during the weeks when a FIP tournament is being held in France.

Without necessarily cancelling all tournaments, some are imagining, for example, a cap of a maximum of 2 P1000 tournaments in the territory or even the absence of P1000 / P1500 tournaments during these periods.

The objective would be to enhance the attractiveness of French international competitions and to encourage the participation of the best national players.

"We are putting a FIP and a P1000 in competition"

For organizers of international tournaments, the issue is very real.

For the FIP Silver Narbonne, the president of the Set Padel Narbonne, Théo Barthe, also observes this situation:

“We sometimes see good French players defecting when they have to choose between a national tournament and a FIP tournament. Unfortunately, for ranking reasons, some prefer to play in P1000 tournaments. In practice, this creates a competition between a FIP Tour tournament and a P1000 tournament. In my opinion, this is unfortunate for the players, for the organizer, and ultimately for the FFT, which is also a partner of the international tournaments held in France.”

An open debate

At this stage, the goal is not to provide a definitive answer.

Should FIP Tour tournaments organized in France be given more protection in order to make them true national events?

Or should we consider that a FIP tournament remains an international competition like any other, just like an event organized in Spain, Italy or elsewhere, and leave the players free to make their own choices without changing the calendar?

One thing is certain: with the increase in the number of FIP tournaments in France and the densification of the national calendar, this question is likely to come up more and more often in discussions about French padel.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

On the same subject

Tags