Le P2000 from Perpignan continues to do the talking behind the scenes. The thirty players present during the famous meeting of the gathering of the French team of padel, last Wednesday, is today in confinement for 14 days.

What consequences? Will the FFT help the players? Will the Federation take its responsibilities?

Recall of facts

Un gathering of the best French players was scheduled for Thursday August 18 and Friday August 19 at the Club du Mas in Perpignan. Was to follow from Friday to Sunday, the 1st P2000 being part of the Recovery plan set up by the FFT.

On Wednesday August 17, 2 players had not obtained the results of the COVID-19 tests before the 1st gathering scheduled for Wednesday. For a reason still not well known, one of these players obtains her results Wednesday at the end of the day whereas she had been present during the rally.

Consequence: Cancellation of the French team rally camp and cancellation of the P2000 Perpignan which was to follow just behind.

The FFT, and more precisely Thierry Pham, the high level manager padel, and the women's coach, Robin Haziza, are then singled out by players who believe that they should have applied the health regulations, namely: Only players who tested negative could participate in the rally.

However, 2 players have fallen through the cracks of the net.

Very angry players

If off, the players are generally all of the same opinion and criticize the FFT for having “lack of vigilance on a point as important as it is simple to implement“, Some players like Jean-Michel Pequery do not hesitate to show in the niche to criticize the crisis management of the FFT.

Some also believe that the breeders could have “commit a little more publicly, for the players and on this situation, instead of being satisfied with this press release from the FFT".

Consequences for players

Obviously, we hope that there will be no health consequences for these players and that we will not be at the origin of a new cluster.

In financial terms, however, the impact can be measured much more easily. Many questions arise:

  • How will the players present at this gathering do to work during these two weeks?
  • Will they be compensated following a possible loss of turnover?
  • Will they be compensated for this mishap in Perpignan?

The players present at the meeting should have been tested before. But obviously, 2 players were not in time. So why did they end up with negative players?

Does the FFT take its responsibilities?

First, in our opinion, there was a series of contests of circumstance which brought us to what we are experiencing today.

But, you can't put it all on bad luck. If the FFT had followed its own rules, we would not know that.

The selectors have generally followed the French Tennis Federation by taking up the official press release from the FFT that we have also shared on our site. Can we blame them for following and supporting the FFT Ad vitam æternam? Who would have done differently?

What can be criticized is certainly the lack of commitment of the FFT press release. No recognition of her responsibility, while it was up to her to organize this event and do what is necessary to guarantee the safety of the players. Not a word of support for the players, and indirectly for the families who find themselves in a very uncomfortable situation.

The players hope to be able to obtain compensation from the FFT for the damage suffered. The file is not closed on the side of the FFT.

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.