Yesterday, Monday March 29, 2021, there was a press conference of the FFT that many were waiting with curiosity after the teasing of an upcoming announcement. It has brought its share of surprises, with the French Tennis Federation and the International Federation of Padel united as one person with the same intention: to continue surfing the popular worldwide success of padel and hoist it to the top! Very good news for racquet sports enthusiasts!

One good news can hide others!

After having had the great surprise of having seen Arnaud Di Pascale inducted as Mr Padel France ; Gilles Morreton - recent President of the FFT, Arnaud Clément - Vice-President of the very high level and Luigi Carraro - President of the FIP, were able to unveil the outline of the project at length. padel France, Europe, international with a lot of common ambitions during this press release.

Ambitious Declarations for a sport that is just as ambitious!

According to the President of the FFT, the qualities of padel is : “Its accessibility, much simpler than tennis, easier to play, its conviviality, social ties, sharing…A cast to bet on men, to give a strong signal to show how much the FFT wants to catch up and overtake other federations! ”

"The padel will not weaken tennis but on the contrary increase tennis with its spirit of conviviality, unfortunately lost in some tennis clubs… ”

Luigi Carraro in turn affirms : “France is a great power in padel at the international level: yesterday at Rome FIP tournament the French women came first by winning the tournament and among the men, the French pair arrived in the semi-finals!

The fact that France - the FFT- wants to commit to this point in the padel is a very strong signal at the global level: the padel international needs the FFT to continue the international development of padel, like those they do with Roland-Garros!

Arnaud Clément, for his part, confirms : "The padel is accessible, spectacular, extremely fun, we take pleasure from the first time by playing padel, people who have never played tennis can have fun right away! ”

“We are at a turning point thanks to the explosion of padel at the world level, even if at present things are going less quickly in France compared to other European / world countries ...We are entering a new turn… This spectacular and passionate side in the padel is very positive for the FFT! ”

Arnaud Di Pascale Technical Director of the FFP

Arnaud Di Pascale : “I am delighted to come to padel, it's a passion for me, a sport in which I believe that has immense potential ...I have the feeling that we are only at the beginning, with the ambitions that stick to the padel, its international development, improve its structures: do better than in the past! ”

The FFT creates the License padel and aim for the heights!

In order to acquire compulsory recognition for this sport: License Padel is born!

A major issue in line with the FFT, working groups will be present to closely monitor the file, already with very specific objectives:

  • Become an international leader, asee a field of padel at Roland Garros during the tournament to accelerate the visibility of padel and improve its communication!
  • Schedule exhibitions, bring in the greatest players, with former French and world tennis players to make it known!
  • There is currently in France only ONE tournament in Angers: the objective of the WPT - of the FFT is to have one of the most beautiful tournaments in the world in France! The FFT must be ambitious!
  • Unite all the clubs of padel. Some clubs have pitches for padel, They must be brought together with the private clubs in order to obtain a subsidy mechanism and that the public / private clubs can all be harmonized. Le padel can be a lever of conviviality and an economic lever in certain clubs.
  •  Promote the development of education and training.

Many measures which show that the federations absolutely want to catch up and trigger the turbo so that France can aspire to become one of the nations, even THE future nation of padel !

Gilles Morreton wants to go the extra mile!

The President of the FFP explains : “We will have to see for the deployment modalities to comply flexibly and attract more audiences. Too few young people and women practice padel in France: it's completely abnormal! Because it is for example 50% of women on average who practice padel everywhere else…"

“Nicolas Escudé arrived a short time ago, the FFT wants to invest fully! Arnaud Di Pascale, it is also a big signal to give to the padel, given his track record and his experience! ”

“For the padel is developing, we need a great collaboration between the FIP and the FFT! ”

For those who would like to see the entire press conference, it's here :

Sylvain Barnett

Sylvain Barnet, French Swiss Army Knife and sports enthusiast. Geek with a sharp quill, loves when a plan goes off without a hitch. And always up for a game.

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