paul cardona, invited to the microphone of the YouTube channel Viente Diez, reveals his opinion and what pushed the players of the circuit Premier Padel à not to show up au P2 Gijon, in Spain.

Demand for responsibility from players

“What the PPA and the players in particular, is to be listened to and have some input into the decisions. We don't want to be just an advisory body for decisions made by Premier Padel and FIP. We want to have some responsibility in the whole point system, the ranking, the tournament average (The cut to participate in the events)…”

The Spanish player explains to us that, for padel to continue growing, it is necessary to take into account the opinions of the players and work together: international federation et professional players.

The race for points

paul cardona sums up the situation by explaining that the new points scales and the new regulations do not benefit anyone: neither the highest ranked, who participate in the tournaments of Premier Padel, nor the players hoping to reach the qualifications or the main draw. According to him, these changes are not beneficial for padel.

“One of the things we want to change is the tournament average. Currently, 22 tournaments count towards the ranking, and we want to reduce that number.”

The point system

“The points system of FIP has also changed this year. The tournaments FIP Platinum now award 300 points, and there are 10 in the year. Gold award between 150 and 200 points, if I'm not mistaken. And I'm going to digress: the fact that they award so many points means that, for example, a very good pair, say sixth or seventh in the ranking, is forced to participate. Otherwise, they fall behind and see the others pass them. This creates a snowball effect where, in the end, everyone ends up playing these tournaments.”

Indeed, some changes have taken place this year in the organization of the tournaments. FIP et Premier Padel, with an increase in points awarded to the winners of the FIP Platinum et GoldIncluding.

The new FIP 2025 points scale and tournament criteria

Smaller tables

“This year, the size of the paintings of P1 has been changed, as well as all the other tournaments. Now they are smaller, there are fewer players in the qualifiers, there is a double bye about P1…These are things that need to change, especially because the current system does not protect players.”

This point has been strongly denounced in recent days in the world of padel by players. The highest ranked pairs in the ranking FIP have a double bye, which saves them from having to play two matches and ensures that they qualify directly for the round of 16. In addition, the main draw is more restricted and they now have to go through three qualifying rounds to get there.

A system that does not protect the best players with an excess of matches and potential injuries, since they are forced to play close to 30 tournaments per year. On the other hand, it does not allow players to mid-ranking or young players to access FIP.

“For me and the rest of the players, the FIP Tour must be a gateway to the circuit Premier Padel. But if, from the fifth or sixth pair, we are all obliged to go and play the FIP Because of the ranking, which is the priority for the players, then what opportunity is left for the youngsters who are starting out? If we play all these tournaments, we are distributing the points among the same players, over and over again. This overload of tournaments does not benefit anyone, and that is what we want to change.”

A collective decision

A decision that the players obviously did not want, especially the Spanish, who always enjoy playing in their country.

“Of course, we are the first to want to play Gijón. We met Joan, the promoter, and in addition to organizing this tournament, he is also responsible for other events in Spain. They are spectacular tournaments, and of course, we want to play at home and for people to be able to see us.”

A decision taken by the best players on the circuit with the aim of defend the interests of padel and professional players with no top 100 players present in Gijón.

But in the end, the first losers in this situation are the spectators.

“It’s clear that no one comes out a winner. But it’s a decision that some players have had to make. When you see that players close to you in the rankings don’t register, you end up following suit…”

Nicolas Fillaudeau

A big sports enthusiast and former tennis player, I discovered padel a few years ago without really focusing on it. Then I became addicted to this sport by practicing it and watching the premier padel matches. Looking forward to sharing the 2025 news with you!

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