We told you about it a little while ago: Spanish Padel Federation (EFF) and the World Padel Tour reached an agreement to launch a new category of tournaments, the WPT Next.

However the Association of Professional Players of Padel (PPA), chaired by the world number 1 Alejandro Galan, does not appreciate this union between WPT and FEP and she wanted to make public her disagreement vis-à-vis this project through a press release.

Spanish Padel Federation responds to PPA

The response from the Spanish Padel Federation was not long in coming and the Iberian institution was keen to rectify certain points:

1- First of all, we respect the opinion of this collective. However, we do not share the arguments set out in the press release published yesterday.

2- In order to clarify the inaccurate information issued by the PPA, we recall that in the context of the FEP, the agreement with the circuit of the World Padel Tour has not only been subscribed by the Federation itself, but has also been signed by 15 of the 18 territorial federations.

3- This agreement between the FEP and the 15 territories with the World Padel Tour frames the desire for freedom that the PPA proclaims so that professional players can choose the circuits in which they want to participate. This new proposal aims to improve and develop the offer in terms of competition and thus offer more options under the aegis of the FEP and the 15 territorial federations. In addition, this will be done in an egalitarian manner, so that the rewards distributed are the same for men and women. Athletes can therefore participate or not in a tournament freely, but claiming to prevent there being more competitions available is not consistent with the “free padel” message that they have been defending for some time.

4- Regarding the statements from the PPA on the need for the FIP to validate the decisions of the FEP, it is once again appropriate to make some corrections to these statements. The FEP is integrated within the FIP. However, the institution, like the territorial federations, is an independent and autonomous organization, which can make agreements that it considers beneficial for padel in Spain. Let us also remember that federated padel goes much further than the professional sector. It brings together clubs, amateur and professional athletes, veterans and referees.

5- On April 12, the representatives of the association met with the leaders of the FEP as well as the various territorial federations. This meeting took place five months after the establishment of the said association. So far no contact had been made with the FEP, and no official presentation of the collective was made.

6- The meeting with the PPA was a first contact between the association, the FEP and the territorial institutions with a view to reaching an agreement with the World Padel Tour to promote a new category of competitions. Of course the grievances of the players were heard but this is not the only factor that could be taken into account when making a decision.

7- Within the FEP we do not understand PPA's calls for consensus, given that the association has not at any time informed the Spanish Federation, even for information purposes, of its negotiations with the International Padel Federation and QSI to develop a new circuit which, let us recall, will be managed by a recently created private company..

8- Due to the dispute between the organizing company of the professional circuit and a group of players, from the point of view of the FEP we understand that the relations between the parties have deteriorated. It is up to the institution in question to put an end to the problem and find a viable solution. However the World Padel Tour has already organized a whole series of tournaments in Spanish territory for this season in which players contractually linked to the circuit will have to participate.

9- From the FEP it is with great astonishment that we note the statement that appeared in the press release from the PPA on the fact that "it is even more incomprehensible that the FEP asks federations from other countries to join this initiative, without the validation of the International Padel Federation, of which the FEP is itself a member". No contact has been made with an international federation in order to reach an agreement with the World Padel Tour. It should also be remembered that the FEP has no obligation to have the agreements, negotiations or other decisions taken validated by the FIP.

Finally, we invite the PPA and its President Alejandro galan to put in place a strategy based on dialogue and cooperation. Regarding the Federation's field of action, we will continue to bet on the training and development of young hopefuls in Spain as well as on our desire to improve the offer in terms of services and competitions for athletes of all categories, clubs and referees.

The original press release

You will find below the original version in Spanish of this press release published by the FEP to the Association of Players of Padel Professionals (PPA)

Communication-FEP-PPADownload
Sebastien Carrasco

Future naturopath and padel enthusiast, Seb is the health/food man of Padel Magazine. He juggles between pala, quinoa and essential oils. For almost two years now he has been dealing with the news of the little yellow ball with the same passion.

On the same subject

Tags