The name José María Catalán may not be one that is readily recognisable in the wider world of sport but it belongs to a man with one of the most important roles in the International Padel Federation who is known universally within the game as ‘Queco.’
In his role as Chief Sports Officer for FIP, Queco’s calm hands and steady gaze oversaw last weekend’s World Championship European Qualifiers at We Are Padel Derby, an event which went seamlessly.
Such are the demands on the Catalán’s time that he is on the road almost 52 weeks a year organising, administrating, and presiding over tournaments for FIP across their ever-expanding global reach.
Through the auspices of their Premier Padel arm FIP recently announced the Premier Padel P1 at the pyramids of New Giza to follow hot on the heels of the spectacles that were the Italy Major at Rome’s iconic Foro Italico and the Paris Premier Major, which was held at the sacred home of the French Open, the Stade Roland Garros.
Now speaking exclusively with The Padel Paper, Queco has confirmed that FIP and Premier Padel are working together to bring a tournament to England, and that could possibly be as early as 2024.
He said: “The important thing is that you have more venues than just Wimbledon. There are fantastic venues around the UK you can use for major padel events as well as for example We Are Padel Derby.
“But I can promise you this there will be a Premier Padel event in England. That is something that will happen.
“My personal view is that it is something that we want, and I am sure it will happen, and the plan is that by 2024 we are worldwide and that England has its own stage.
“When you look at what happened with the Premier Padel events at Foro Italico and Roland Garros then we know that we can also host such an event in England at a venue that will capture the imagination.
“I have known Tom Murray (LTA Head of Padel) from the very beginning and he has done an amazing job of promoting padel from the start and he really gets the culture of padel and what it is about in Spain and we have a very good relationship which is very important.
“So, we have a product that is easy to play, so much fun to watch and it is addictive so we have everything for this sport to succeed all over the world and that is what FIP are working for right now.”
Queco continued: “I am the Chief Sports Officer and I take care of all the competitions and sports activity of FIP and padel is getting huge in the world but there are countries that still need a push and the UK and England in particular is a target country for us in this respect.
“It is important that padel is strong and growing well in countries like England, both from the point of view of England and the UK but also from the point of view of growing padel as a sport across the world and in Europe.
“So we thought that an event like the European Qualifiers for the World Championships would be a great help in pushing the sport and giving it real presence and I believe that from what I saw in Derby that has been the case.
“We will come back for sure as We Are Padel Derby is an amazing venue. With more time to plan we can have a real centre court with a stand and we can host really important and big tournaments there, so for sure we will come back.”
With The Padel Paper courtside as the action unfolded at We Are Padel, John Leach’s men’s team dramatically claimed the last qualification place for the Dubai 2022 World Cup over the weekend. Queco was delighted to confirm the event’s success from a FIP perspective.
FIP’s Chief Sports Officer said: “First of all it was very important that all the nations who played at Derby had fun, as for us the players come first and if they are good then everything else will fall into place.
“If they have fun and enjoy the competition then we are working well. From my side it is also good to avoid injuries and also very important that everything is run efficiently, that the venue is strong and that the event has good profile and we were very happy with all of that at We Are Padel.”
Projecting forward to the XVI Padel World Championships, which will start on October 31 and are the first to feature prize money, with a fund of 500,000 Euros being distributed equally between men and women of all countries who have qualified for the final stage, Queco has no doubt that Dubai will be the biggest and best yet.
He said: “It is a bit like an international community and it is one that is getting bigger and bigger. This World Championships will break all the records and there is almost 40 countries have participated with only 16 making the final stage from both the men and women’s tournament.
“For us at FIP we are very excited about Dubai and I have no doubt that the standard of padel will be up from last year in Qatar and that in every measurement this will be the best World Championship we have had and that is because the game is continuing to evolve and grow from month to month.
“It is also because we continue to listen and learn as we look to make the experience of playing for the players better and better.
“We (FIP) know that if you respect the players and take care of them properly that everything else falls into place.
“They are the most important part of the game as without the players we have nothing and you can never lose sight of that.”
Yet there will be one nation missing from the top table in Dubai after Sweden failed to survive a ‘group of death’ at Derby and Portugal administered a Scandinavian coup de grâce en route to their own progression to the finals.
It is something the Catalan is sanguine about: “For me it is sad that we are going to have a World Cup without the best teams and that we will be missing one of them and that will be Sweden.
“At the finals stage you want the best team playing each other but unfortunately we have to have a draw at the qualifiers and they were in the same group as Portugal and only one team could progress and it was Portugal – but that is sport.
“So we will miss Sweden but I am sure they will be back.”
Many thanks to Queco for taking time from his busy schedule to speak to us. See more info about Dubai here.
