Lisandro Borges is at the heart of the news following cancellation of World Padel Tour Buenos Aires Master. Questioned by our colleagues from La Chiquita Padel, the businessman wanted to provide his vision of the facts, and to return to his stormy relationship with the WPT. Excerpts.

“The players invented injuries, the WPT invented economic reasons”

If the circuit cited an economic reason when officially announcing the cancellation of the tournament, Borges has a completely different version:

“We know that Lebron, Galan, Bela and Paquito would not come. In total, 13 players withdrew, which meant that on Tuesday we would have no matches. This already happened during the South American tour. In La Rioja, on the first day, only one match was played instead of eight because eleven pairs withdrew with injuries. In Chile, ten pairs withdrew, and in Paraguay, ten more…

The WPT, under its contracts with promoters, guarantees the participation of all players, so they decided to invent economic reasons. They knew that if 13 pairs didn't come, it would cause serious problems with promoters and eventually lead to legal action. So they decided to suspend the tournament, and find themselves with another complaint.”

“We shook hands to buy the circuit for 20 million euros”

The Argentine promoter, who does not yet know exactly in what form he will continue his activities in padel in 2024, has already planned to launch a new competition next season, Next Gen. He wants to bounce back, but does not hide his grievances towards the WPT:

“When I left the WPT, it was because they promised me to keep the stages in Chile, Paraguay and Brazil, and after three years of preparation, they sold these events to Rucio Investments. When that happened, I made the decision to leave and organize another tour, and I did it with Belasteguin and other players, but still respecting the contracts. Then the WPT came closer, apologized, and I did the same, and we continued the relationship. This is what happened and this is why I confronted them.

That said, I'm going to tell you something that no one knows. THE World Padel Tour also violated the memorandum of understanding signed with the Qataris, and this is a serious violation. The WPT tried to sell me the circuit in the middle of negotiations with QSI. They came to Chile, we got together with my investment fund, and we shook hands to buy the circuit for 20 million euros.”

Finally, the WPT sold the circuit to Qatar Sports Investment, and its future will be under the banner of Premier Padel. A situation which obviously leaves Lisandro bitter…

Premier Padel buy it back World Padel Tour !

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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