It's already the end of soap opera between the FIP and the ITF, the members of the latter having voted against the attempt to take control of the development of the padel (and other racket sports including pickleball).
The International Tennis Federation's Annual General Meeting, held in Glasgow today, saw its chairman David Haggerty suffer a major setback. Indeed, as we told you through other articles, the latter had the ambition to recover the governance of the padel to the detriment of the FIP. Unfortunately for the American, the members of the ITF voted against his proposal, like Gilles Moretton, who explains it in the tweet below.
For the FIP, it's a real relief, as the President explains. Luigi Carraro : “Today is a victory for the independence and integrity of sport; for our players, for fans of padel; and for all institutions throughout the world of sport that promote and protect the independence of other sports bodies.
It is also a crushing defeat for the individual interest of sports leaders who want to put in place resolutions to absorb emerging sports.
We thank all the national tennis federations who have challenged their own international federation and brought their voice in favor of the padel – we are excited to continue working with them to grow our sport together. We thank the Professional Players Association of padel for speaking out on behalf of the players – who drive our beloved sport. We also thank all the national federations of padel around the world for standing up for the integrity of our sport.
The International Federation of padel will now be able to continue to work hard to develop the padel at professional and amateur level around the world, in collaboration with the stakeholders of this sport.”
Here is the FIP press release: