As padel makes its debut at one of the great cathedrals of tennis, with the inaugural Greenweez Paris Premier Padel Major being held at Stade Roland Garros, the sport is confidently looking forward to a place in the Olympic Games.
While padel courts popped up in Paris, and the main draw matches began in temperatures of 37 degrees on the Philippe Chatrier court,Spanish eyes were turning to the next Premier Padel tournament set for Madrid in August.
The Madrid Premier Padel P1 takes place from August 1-6 at the 15,000-capacity Wizink Center, and during the official launch a leading Olympic figure predicted that the sport would soon grace the Games.
In an article published by respected sports daily Marca, Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, revealed that he was “sure that very soon we will see padel among the great Olympic sports”.
Padel’s popularity in Spain is a sporting phenomenon, with 14,000 courts and six million players putting it ahead of tennis and second only to football.
The IOC keeps a close eye on the ability of new sports to deliver commercial credibility, an element that has proved to be a stumbling block for squash.
Padel’s global growth has been accompanied by professional tournaments taking place in spectacular locations, and last month’s Premier Padel event in Rome attracted 7,000 fans to the final in the Foro Italico. More importantly, 167 TV channels broadcast the event.
It will be interesting to see the attendance figures in Paris. If a sport can deliver significant ticket revenues, and create exciting TV coverage that attracts broadcasters and advertisers, then the IOC management will be more likely to fast-track your application.
At the Madrid launch, Joan Cuscó , president of Madrid Premier Padel and Octagon Spain, said: “In the future, padel tennis is a sport that has to aspire to be in the Olympics. There is a way to go and hard work ahead, but I am sure we will achieve it.”
Madrid will follow Qatar, Rome and Paris on the new Premier Padel circuit, which is promoted by the International Padel Federation and funded by Qatar Sports Investments. The Madrid Premier Padel P1 will be the first tournament in Spain and the WiZink Center is anticipating sellout crowds.
Discussing the new circuit, Cuscó added: “Premier Padel has a clear objective: to take this sport further, to make it more global, and to make this feeling of wanting to play padel tennis more and more contagious.”
The president of the International Padel Federation, Luigi Carraro, warmed to building more partnerships based on padel’s strength in Spain. He added: “It is very important for us to have the support of the community of Madrid and I am very happy that the fourth edition will be here because Madrid is the world capital of padel.”
Further support came from Marta Rivera, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the Community of Madrid. She said: “Padel is a very Madrid sport and it is very important that this tournament be held here. We are going to show that Madrid is more than ready to host a world event.”
For now, all eyes will be on Paris. But when the Premier Padel roadshow rocks up in Madrid, the Spanish padel community is determined to send out a positive message to the rest of the world, and especially the IOC.
Main image courtesy of FIP / Premier Padel
Full article in Marca
