The three entities behind Premier Padel – Qatar Sports Investments (a sovereign wealth fund), the International Padel Federation (FIP) and the Professional Padel Association (a players’ union) – have met with the two entities behind the World Padel Tour (WPT) – Damm and its subsidiary Setpoint Events – to discuss future joint operations.
A reversal
This is an about-face for the WPT, which, as we then reported, filed suit last May in the 15th Commercial Court of Madrid against the very parties now seated at the far side of the negotiating table. Among the allegations were violations of Spain’s anti-competition law, illegal boycotts, the pilfering of investments, and denigration of the league and its management. According to The Padel Paper, the case – or at least the part concerning players who had competed for both leagues – was thrown out in July because improperly served.
Later that month, Rucio Investments stopped backing the WPT and might have initiated talks with the FIP to back Premier Padel instead.
In October, the WPT offered to drop its lawsuit against the players if they joined a “Super League,” whose World Masters Final would carry a purse of $500,000.
The Commercial Court subsequently ruled – still according to The Padel Paper – that the WPT’s lawsuit lacked legal foundation, that its own contracts were anti-competitive, and that its proposed new tour proved that it was not harmful to the WPT for players to take part in other tours.
The European Commission, moreover, appears to be looking into a complaint against the WPT over anti-competitive behavior.
Yet other parties seek control
In November, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) held a vote at its annual general meeting in Glasgow on whether to usurp control of pádel worldwide. The Padel Paper obtained and published parts of the meeting’s agenda, which likened the vote to “what the ITF did in 2008 regarding beach tennis.”
Once pádel was “included within its scope, the ITF would have the mandate from the ITF members to act as the global governing body with the general objectives of harmonization of sporting rules, fostering the growth and development of padel, advancing padel’s interests and promoting its integrity and reputation.”
To justify the move, the ITF, under president David Haggerty, sought to add to its constitution an article on “variations of tennis.” Formal adoption of “any new tennis discipline or variation” required a two-thirds majority resolution. The vote failed to meet this threshold.
As The Padel Paper points out, tennis has of late suffered the break-up of its big four, with Roger Federer now retired, Rafael Nadal often on the mend, Andy Murray down in the rankings, and until recently, Novak Djokovic drawing the ire of such governments as Australia’s for his defiance of government measures for Covid-19. In short, revenues are down.
