This is really messy. The 2022 Spanish Championships of padel, scheduled for the end of October, will not be contested this year. Blame it on a new wave of Covid? No way.

In its press release published on Monday, October 17, the Spanish Federation of padel announces that these championships will finally take place the last week of January… 2023! The Spanish Under-23 Championship, which should have taken place from September 19 to 25 in Madrid, is also definitively canceled. Similarly, the Champions Cup – a competition that brings together the best pairs from the regional championships – will not take place either; it was scheduled for November 14-20.

Egyptian competition

The reason for these cancellations is suggested in this other press release from the FEP : the coincidence of the dates of the Spanish championship and the international tournament Premier Padel P1 (FIP/QSI), which takes place in Egypt on exactly the same dates.

Not happy, the Spanish Federation of padel specifies that it announced its official calendar as early as January 2022, then that it informed the International Federation of padel last September. This did not prevent Premier Padel to place his Egyptian event on the same dates.

The Spanish national championship distributing 30 euros in prizes for men (and as much for women), it is no match for the €250 granted by a P000 of Premier Padel. The Spanish competition would therefore have been deserted by the best players in the world if it had been maintained on the same dates. And organize only a women's championship - knowing that the ladies do not play the circuit Premier Padel – would have made little sense.

Controversy in Spain

This absence of a national championship in 2022 sparked controversy in Spain, relayed by the site Padelazo (see below), who affirms that the president of the FEP, as administrator of the FIP, was informed as early as July of the will of Premier Padel to organize the New Giza P1 between October 24th and 30th…

President Morcillo recognized from July that Premier Padel estudiaba ubicar a torneo en fechas del Campeonato de España

In this affair, the Spanish championship is the victim of the saturation of the professional calendar, between the tests of World Padel Tour, Premier Padel and other competitions organized under the aegis of the FIP. A situation that should continue next year, since the players are still under contract with the WPT until the end of 2023.

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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