Padel enters the University of Pristina in Kosovo: a new space for sport and social interaction in a country where participation has tripled

ROME – Padel has officially entered the University of Pristina, the largest and most important university institution in Kosovo. As the 2026/2027 academic year got underway, a new court was inaugurated within the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, becoming part of the facilities available to the university community.

 

Another sign of the growth of Padel in Kosovo, as reflected in FIP figures. According to the latest data, an advance preview of the FIP World Padel Report 2026, the country now has 16 clubs, 40 courts and around 9,000 amateur players. The latter figure is particularly significant in showing the pace of development: the number of players has tripled each year since 2024, rising from around 1,000 recorded in the FIP World Padel Report 2024 to 3,000 in 2025 and 9,000 in 2026.

 

This growth has also been reflected in international competition in 2026. Pristina hosted a CUPRA FIP Tour tournament for the first time, the FIP Bronze Prishtina, while Kosovo participated with eight players in the 2026 Mediterranean Games in Taranto, the first edition of the multi-sport event to include Padel in its programme. A pathway already looking to the future. Pristina will host the next edition of the Mediterranean Games in 2030: following the experience in Taranto, the event offers a further perspective for the growth of Padel in the country. In this context, the introduction of Padel at the University of Pristina has a significance that goes beyond sport alone. Bringing a court into the country’s leading institution dedicated to educating new generations represents a concrete example of the social dimension of the sport and its ability to promote inclusion, social interaction and cultural exchange.

 

These are characteristics that are inherent to the nature of Padel: an accessible sport capable of bringing together people with different experiences, backgrounds and levels of preparation, and of creating relationships through play. Its presence within a university therefore takes on particular significance, bringing Padel into an environment where education, culture, research and social life coexist every day. The inauguration of the new court is also part of the University of Pristina’s programme to expand and renovate its facilities, with new spaces for teaching, research, creativity and sport developed for the new academic year. This year, the University welcomed 5,663 new students onto bachelor’s programmes, 2,423 onto master’s programmes and 61 onto doctoral programmes.

 

The new court can therefore become much more than a space dedicated to sport: a meeting place for a university community made up of thousands of young people, where experiences can be shared and new relationships built. An example of how Padel, alongside its sporting and international growth, continues to develop the social interaction, inclusion and sense of community that are among its distinctive characteristics.