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 riding the global popular success of padel and raise it to the top! Very good news for racket 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 reveal at length the outlines of the France, Europe, international padel project with a great many 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  are : “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! ”

“Padel will not weaken tennis but on the contrary will make tennis rise 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 get so involved in padel is a very strong signal at the global level: international padel needs the FFT to continue the international development of padel, like those they are doing with Roland-Garros!

 Arnaud Clément, for his part, confirms :  “Padel is accessible, spectacular, extremely fun, you have fun from the first time playing padel, people who have never played tennis can have fun right away!”

“We are at a pivotal time thanks to the explosion of padel at a global level, even if it is currently going less quickly in France compared to other European/world countries…We are starting a new turn... This spectacular and passionate side to 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 is a passion for me, a sport in which I believe and which has immense potential…I have the feeling that we are only at the beginning, with the ambitions that stick to padel, its international development, improving its structures: doing better than in the past!”

 The FFT creates the padel license and aims for the top! 

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 padel court at Roland Garros during the tournament to increase 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 padel clubs. Some clubs have padel courts, 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. Padel can be a lever for 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 about the deployment methods to comply flexibly and attract more audiences. Too few young people and women play padel in France: it’s completely abnormal! Because for example, it is 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 is also a big signal to give to padel, given his track record and his experience!”

“For padel to develop, there needs to be 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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