Padel dreams of the Olympic Games, but the Mediterranean Games also reveal its main weakness

The International Federation of Padel no longer hides his objective: to one day see padel included in the Olympic Games In Taranto, on the occasion of the discipline's first appearance at the Mediterranean Games, its president Luigi Carraro once again emphasized the global growth of padel and its progressive integration into major multi-sport competitions.

On paper, the arguments are numerous. But these Mediterranean Games also revealed a much less flattering reality: From a sporting perspective, international padel remains extremely unbalanced. .

And for those who still doubt the Olympic maturity of the discipline, Taranto could almost provide some additional arguments.

Spain isn't sending its best players… and remains ahead

This is probably the most striking observation.

Spain obviously did not arrive in Taranto with Arturo Coello, Ale Galán, Juan Lebrón, Bea González, Ari Sánchez or Paula Josemaría .

Far from it.

For the men, the Spanish team relied in particular on David Gala and José Antonio Diestro . They are certainly very high-level players, but they absolutely do not represent what Spain could field at its best in a hypothetical Olympic competition.

In the ladies, Lucia Sainz and Patty Llaguno Former world number 1s, but now far from the top of the rankings, were among those accompanying Jimena Velasco and Nuria Rodríguez.

And yet, the result is particularly telling.

The two Spanish women's pairs met in the final. Even before it began, Spain was already assured of leaving with the gold and silver.

Spain can thus delve very deeply into its pool of players while still remaining capable of dominating an international competition.

Behind Spain and Argentina, what real counter-power exists?

The problem obviously does not only concern the Mediterranean Games.

One only needs to observe the World's Championships .

In 2024 in Doha, the two team finals once again pitted them against each other Spain to Argentina in both men and women. Argentina won the men's title while Spain secured a sixth consecutive women's world title.

In the realm of men, world history also remains almost entirely a matter between these two nations.

The observation is difficult to ignore: Spain and Argentina still live in another world .

Behind them, Italy is making tremendous progress. Portugal also has a strong padel culture and several players capable of competing at a very high level.

France is also moving forward, with a particularly involved Federation.

But between getting closer to the podium (the top 2) and to be truly capable of beating Spain or Argentina with their best players , there is still a chasm.

Sometimes enormous differences

Taranto also produced scores that reflect the current heterogeneity of international padel.

We notably saw Portugal inflict a 6-0 6-0 to Turkey In the women's competition, Italy achieved exactly the same result against Cyprus.

In other matches, the differences in level were also considerable.

This is obviously not about mocking these nations. On the contrary, their presence is essential to the development of padel.

But for a sport that aspires to the Olympic Games, the question deserves to be asked: How many countries today possess genuine high-level depth?

Major nations not yet fully invested?

There is another paradox.

The Mediterranean Games represent a historic milestone for padel, but not all major nations have necessarily treated the competition as an absolute priority.

Spain is the most obvious example, as it has dozens of players who, on paper, could aspire to a higher national team.

And that's precisely where part of the problem lies.

To fully demonstrate its Olympic potential, padel must not only be played in a large number of countries, but also succeed in giving these international competitions have real sporting importance .

Italy is clearly playing its part. So is Portugal. France is increasingly involved in international competitions. And for many emerging nations, simply participating in these Games is already a significant event.

But the level of involvement and especially the sporting resources still vary greatly from one country to another.

38 million practitioners… but how many nations are capable of competing for medals?

Luigi Carraro points out that padel now has approximately 38 million participants, 85,000 tracks and 27,000 clubs in 178 countries and territories .

These are impressive figures. (and certainly overestimated)

But above all, they recount the spread of padel as sport practiced .

The Olympic question raises another: that of its maturity as top-level international sport .

And in this area, photography is different.

There are many countries where padel is now played. But how many can currently build a team capable of competing with the best?

Spain boasts unparalleled depth. Argentina remains the other historical powerhouse. Behind them, Italy, Portugal, and France are trying to close the gap, while several emerging nations are still building their first generations of international players.

Taranto: a success… that also exposes the weaknesses of padel

This is the paradox of these Mediterranean Games.

For the FIP, Taranto undoubtedly represents an institutional victory. Following the European Games in Krakow, padel continues its establishment in multi-sport events and will also be present in other major continental competitions.

This internationalization is essential in the Olympic quest.

But Taranto simultaneously reveals the hidden side of this expansion: Being present in 178 countries does not yet mean having 178 competitive nations .

And when Spain can field a team without many of its best players while still remaining a natural contender for gold medals, the question of true international balance remains entirely open.

Padel is growing extremely fast.

But before the five rings, his next challenge may be less about adding new countries to a map than about bringing forth more nations truly capable of beating the two giants, Spain and Argentina .

Because for now, behind the impressive global growth shown by the FIP, the international sporting hierarchy remains terribly narrow.

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.