The International Padel Federation, the world governing body of padel for more than 31 years, is pleased to announce that “ The attempted hostile takeover of padel by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) was firmly and categorically rejected today by members of the international tennis community”. 

You will find below the press release of the FIP (in French):

 Victory for the independence and integrity of the sport: the ITF's hostile takeover attempt of padel is firmly rejected. 

November 15, 2022 – The International Padel Federation, the world governing body of padel for over 31 years, is pleased to announce that the attempted hostile takeover of padel by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has been firmly and categorically rejected today by members of the international tennis community.

At the ITF Annual General Meeting held in Glasgow, the ITF presented a resolution to unilaterally assume governance of padel, while seeking to independently lead the development of new disciplines or variations of tennis, such as pickleball. The resolution was definitively rejected by the ITF's own members.

In the run-up to the AGM, stakeholders from the worlds of padel, tennis and sports governance announced their opposition to the takeover attempt, including the Professional Players Association that represents the leading professional padel players. Ultimately, the tennis community itself voted to block the takeover in resounding fashion.

Commenting on the result, the president of the International Padel Federation, Luigi Carraro, said:

"Today is a victory for the independence and integrity of sport, for our players, for padel fans and for all the institutions of world sport that promote and protect the independence of other sports bodies.

It is also a resounding defeat for self-interested sports leaders who seek to pass resolutions to swallow up developing sports. We thank all the national tennis federations who have defied their own international federation and stood up for padel – we look forward to continuing to work together to grow our sport hand in hand.

We thank the Professional Players Association for making the voice of the players heard, who are the pulse of our beloved sport. We also thank all the national padel federations around the world who defend the integrity of our sport. The International Padel Federation will now continue to work tirelessly to develop padel at the professional and amateur level in every corner of the world, in collaboration with stakeholders from all over the sport.. "

Victory for the independence and integrity of sport - the hostile takeover of padel by the ITF is firmly rejectedDownload
Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

On the same subject

Tags