Since the 2010s, Qatar has established itself as a central player in world sport. Its influence extends from  Football , with the acquisition of the  Paris Saint-Germain ,  Formula 1  visit us at the  cycling  and even at organization of the 2022 World Cup . Sport has become a  strategic radiation vector  for the emirate, a tool of soft diplomacy on an international scale. It is in this logic that its massive investment in a more recent but booming sport is part of today:  padel .

Why padel?

Padel has advantages that make it an ideal target for an influence strategy:

  • He is in  strong global growth , with over  25 million practitioners  in nearly 100 countries.
  • He's  media ,  visually dynamic ,  easy to understand  et  accessible  to all audiences.
  • He is still young, so  unstructured  on a global scale, making it easier to  quick takeover .

By investing in this sport, Qatar is not just supporting it. It is also seeking to  shape governance, rules of the game, communication and image .

A well-orchestrated offensive: the birth of Premier Padel

In 2021, two circuits are competing for the elite of world padel:

  • Le  World Padel Tour (WPT) , created in 2013, based in Spain, which until then held the monopoly on professional padel.
  • Le  APT Padel Tour become  A1 Padel , founded by Fabrice Pastor, which develops mainly in Latin America.

But  2022 , a new structure emerges:  Premier Padel , a fully circuit  funded by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) , also owner of PSG. Officially supported by the  International Federation of Padel (FIP) , this new circuit offers (well… was supposed to offer, but that’s another debate):

  • The  higher financial endowments .
  • A  better contractual recognition  for gamers.
  • The  tournaments organized in prestigious sites  : Roland-Garros, Foro Italico (Rome), Doha, Dubai, Buenos Aires…

In less than a year,  the best players in the world  join the project:  Alejandro Galán, Juan Lebrón, Agustín Tapia, Arturo Coello …Result: the WPT loses its appeal and ends up  merge with Premier Padel in 2024 , under the leadership of the FIP.

Qatar takes the lead in world padel

With this merger,  Qatar takes de facto institutional, commercial and media control of professional padel  :

  • He controls the  international calendar .
  • He chooses the  host cities  major events.
  • He supervises the  broadcasting rights , the  Partnerships , the  income distribution  and the  regulations .

Padel then becomes a new tool in the  Qatar's influence strategy , an  soft power  where sport, image, finance and diplomacy intertwine.

An irreversible change of status

Padel has therefore gone, in the space of a few years,  from an emerging sport to a global issue , where image strategy, economic conquest and political projection intersect.

It's no longer just a racket game.  It is a lever of international influence.  And now, the big decisions around professional padel are no longer taken in Madrid or Buenos Aires... but in  Doha  .

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