Le World Padel Tour et Premier Padel can they get along? It's kind of the question that's been on everyone's lips since the two circuits have declared to have initiated discussions.

The unification of the circuits, not for now

Will these two circuits, which have been “at war” for a year now, be able to put all their liabilities aside and agree to work together for the good of the players and sport in general?

First of all, we have to tell ourselves that we shouldn't see the consequences of this merger for a little while. Indeed, in the press release from QSI, it is specified that the two parties will discuss “potential collaborations in favor of padel”. We therefore understand that this should not normally concern the 2023 season.

A 2023 season which has not yet started, but which is already seeing the birth of a conflict between ASF and World Padel Tour about a calendar a little too full in the eyes of the players. It must be said that with 27 competitions scheduled for this year, the WPT is going strong. Cause if like last year Premier Padel offers a dozen tournaments, players will have to participate in almost 40 events over 11 months, colossal! In the immediate future, the Players' Association and the circuit managed by Setpoint Events SA must therefore find common ground.

PPA vs WPT – Players want to free themselves from the obligation to participate in the Open 1000

What are the intentions behind this merger?

And if we understand that the World Padel Tour, which fears to see the players escape at the end of the year, expiry date of the contract binding the two parts, seeks to get closer to Premier Padel so as not to lose everything, the intentions of the new official circuit of the FIP are more vague. Indeed, once the players are released from their contract with the WPT, they will be able to play all the tournaments of Premier Padel they want.

world padel tour first padel collaboration

Among the possible reasons, we say that it is perhaps the operational capacity and the experience of this circuit that are targeted by the Qataris. We see in particular that Premier Padel, after a year of existence, has still not published anything on his website ! For the moment, communication goes through the FIP site and updating tables, for example, often takes a long time, something that is not the case on the WPT.

Nevertheless, one can think that given the resources of QSI, this level of excellence, with some additional efforts, could be achieved quite easily. Finally, perhaps this rapprochement is for them quite simply the assurance of no longer having a real competitor in the short term. Especially since in terms of image, it is always smoother to associate with someone who was already in place than to crush everything in its path...

From now on, it remains to be seen whether these two entities will manage to come to an agreement and offer a long-awaited single circuit. You believe in it ?

Xan is a fan of padel. But also of rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel players, he finds atypical posts or deals with current topics. He also gives you some advice to develop your physique for padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the padel court!

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