Global padel in France: from clash to success

Did you know ? France has already hosted a worldwide padel. It was 20 years ago. And already in 2000, the former French Federation of Padel had great ambitions for this sport. A master stroke at a time when the padel was only based on 2 nations: Spain and Argentina.

Claude Baigts, the former president of the French Federation of Padel and current President ofEuropean Association of Clubs Padel private , looks back on this incredible adventure.

If today the padel is booming in France as in Europe, in the 2000s, we were still far from this general atmosphere. And to find a place with the 2 adults, "we had to haggle".

Take a look behind the scenes of obtaining the world's first (and only for now) padel in France with Claude.

Spain and Argentina had it all

“The creation of the French Federation of Padel "FFP" coincided with the organization by the International Federation of Padel "FIP" of the world's first Padel Madrid.

The FFP selected 7 players and 7 players and we entered the FIP.

During this first meeting we noted that Argentina and Spain shared all the powers, they alone had the quasi-majority in the votes but without agreeing on everything.

The first dispute concerned the sporting regulations: serve-volley for Spaniards and non-serve-volley for South Americans. It may not necessarily be remembered, but at one time the regulations prohibited players from going up to the net immediately after serve. Today, this rule makes you smile, yet in the 90s, it was a hot topic. ”

We had to break this cycle

“My Vice-President Leonardo Kliener and I quickly understood that we had to present a very ambitious project to be able to exist in this assembly.

The attribution of the organization of the world championship followed a simple principle: once in two in Europe, therefore in Spain and once in two in South America, therefore in Argentina ...

Thus Mendoza in 1994 and Madrid in 1996 were already selected. To break this cycle we have proposed that in 2000 France could organize the 5th World.

Our proposal was not taken very seriously until we had to vote on whether the padel would henceforth be played with or without serve-volley. We have haggled our vote against the consideration of our candidacy.

This candidacy would allow the FFP to organize major competitions in France but also in Europe, to train our best players, to retain partners, and to show the Ministry that it was right to give us approval. ”

From clash to global

“During each general assembly of the FIP between 1994- 1996 - we recalled our candidacy and we provided additional information to make it more credible: our national selections, the held each year on the Place du Capitole of the Open de France whose quality of the organization was recognized by the players, the international leaders. The construction of National Center Padel in Blagnac (31) with 1 covered central with 350 seats -2 semi-covered and 2 outside…

And then in 1998 in Mar Del Plata, during the 4^rd Global, we went to the clash with the leaders of Argentina and Spain. We had been warned by certain Argentinian and Spanish players that they were going to war against their federations and that they wanted to set up their own circuit. We made sure of their support to mount together in the year 2000, a world championship of padel by invitation with their future association.

On the strength of this it was easy for me to convince the leaders of the FIP to give us the organization of the 2000 World Cup, because if they had persisted in their policy of closure, we would have put our project in shape. We were supported by all the small nations and the best players in the world, our project will open the door 4 years later in Mexico to organize the 6^rd worldwide. ”

The 2000 edition, a first in many areas

“For this first edition organized by a country other than Spain or Argentina:

- The hens took place in Toulouse-Blagnac- Saint Jean but also in Montauban 50 km away and Figeac 150 km. Why this choice? -To reward the cities and clubs that have followed the FFP since its creation but also for '' ensure financial participation of cities and departments without forgetting the Midi-Pyrénées Region

- The finals on the Place du Capitole where we had installed 3 courts including a central 500 seats.

- The exhibitors' village was certainly the most complete of all the previous editions

- 9 Nations contested the World in teams and 64 pairs men and 32 women the World in pairs.

The task was gigantic and we had to rely on the understanding of the players and managers to remedy certain shortcomings. For the FFP we were in the big leagues"

Place du Capitole: the return of the world, more than 20 years later?

“Toulouse remains a stronghold of Padel in Europe: the complexes of Padel have multiplied: Toulouse Padel Club 12 indoor courts - Padel Tolosa 7 courts… The French Open of Padel back since 2016 Place du Capitole, the FFT Tournaments which make padel a sport recognized by all national and regional authorities.

We can instruct a strong application of more than 45 courts within a radius of 10 kilometers and a recognized organizational knowledge.

The FIP and the FFT can count on AECP and Sports Region to bring together all the regional players around the application for a world in 2023 or 2024 Olympic year.

The ball is in the camps of the FIP and the FFP, we are ready! “

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.