• CUPRA becomes the main sponsor of the International Padel Federation (IPF)
• Both sides commit to supporting the international expansion of the racquet sport
• The brand was the title sponsor of the CUPRA European Padel Championship 2019
• The CUPRA Ateca Limited Edition was present in Rome during the tournament

CUPRA smashes it again on the padel court. After incorporating four of the world’s best players into its tribe and signing a special partnership with the World Padel Tour until 2021, the brand expands its presence in the racquet sport by becoming the main sponsor of the International Padel Federation (IPF) until the end of 2020.

The special collaboration between CUPRA and the IPF was revealed at the CUPRA European Padel Championship. The brand was the title sponsor of the event which took place in Rome from the 4th to the 9th of November.

The agreement was signed by Antonino Labate, CUPRA director of Strategy, Business Development and Operations, and IPF President Luigi Carraro during the celebration of the CUPRA European Padel Championship.

At the signing ceremony, Antonino Labate stated:

“The association between CUPRA and the International Padel Federation reinforces our commitment to support the international expansion of this sport. We have decided to contribute to the professional development of padel, which has currently more than five million players in Spain and it is experiencing exponential growth across Europe, where the installation of new facilities is growing by triple-digit”.

Furthermore, Luigi Carraro affirmed:

“We are glad that a brand like CUPRA has decided to accompany padel on its path towards international development. Together we will work to make this sport increasingly popular and more professional, which will help us achieve our goal of making padel an Olympic sport“.

The fans who attended the CUPRA XI European Padel Championship 2019 were delighted by an exhibition match between the brand’s padel ambassadors and former football players Vincent Candela and Luca Marchegiani.

Download: Announcement Assembly

On Friday 18th was celebrated the 29th Annual General Assembly of the International Padel Federation.

Great participation by the Federations Members confirming the continued interest on the part of all members for the activities of the International Federation.

President Luigi Carraro opened the Assembly by thanking Spain, the Consejo Superior de Deportes and the Spanish Padel Federation for their support, and above all thanked the Padel Federation of the Valencian Community for the extraordinary organization of the current XII Junior Padel World Championship.

The assembly started with the usual voting to approve the minutes of the extraordinary assembly of São Paulo (March 2019) in which the Board of Directors was elected and then, the FIP 2018 budget was approved.

The president Carraro then presented the report of the work carried out in this year by the current FIP ​​management, highlighting among the great results:

1. The unification of the ranking with WPT
2. The consolidation of the FIP partners with the entry of two very important new sponsors,
3. The New FIP Padel Tour circuit that will allow the development of the padel worldwide and will also always have a ranking composed of players of as many different nationalities as possible.
4. We then focused on important agreements with Media, starting from the agreement with Sky Sport that will broadcast the XI European Championship (Rome 4/9 November) and many others that will be announced in the coming weeks,
5. The members were informed of the important developments with the European Olympic Committees for the inclusion of the Padel in the European Games of Krakow 2023 and also that a confrontation will soon begin with the organization of the next Pan-American championships that will take place in Chile in 2023 to include, also in this event, Padel between the disciplines.

All that in view of our most important goal that is to become an Olympic discipline in all aspects,

6. In this context, with great honor, the President and the Executive Board announced to the members the signing of an important agreement signed with the GAISF and the ITF, which details will be announced in the coming days, and which makes even closer the passage from Observer Member to Permanent Member of the FIP within the GAISF.

Unanimous appreciation was made by FIP members for the activity carried out so far.

As usual, it was held the officiating of all the championships played in recent months (from the last Asunción General Assembly 2018 until today), of the current Junior World championships and of the upcoming European Padel Championships in Rome (4-9 November).

The assembly also voted to delegate to the board of directors, which will make use of a technical evaluation commission, the assignment of the next World Championships of 2020 Senior and Veteran.

In conclusion, we are particularly pleased to announce that the assembly has voted, on the proposal of the board of directors, the entry of 6 new countries within the FIP:

• China, Russia, San Marino, Armenia, Egypt and Ireland.

This confirms what the padel is growing in every part of the world. Details on these countries will be announced in the coming days.

It is very important for FIP that all the points contained in the Meeting Agenda have been approved by the General Assembly, which is the sovereign body of FIP, by a large majority of votes, including the votes needed by a two-thirds majority. This demonstrates a uniform criterion within the FIP, where the constructive spirit of the Affiliate Members prevails, and the confidence placed in the Board of Directors, which will continue to work hard for the common objectives together with all member countries.

The assembly closed with the hope of President Carraro that the constructive spirit that characterized the assembly just held, is the beginning of a new era in which the Padel finds unity among all its components.

Download: Statement Junior World Champs

In response to requests for clarification submitted by a number of FIP members regarding the award and conduct of the Junior World Championship scheduled to be held in Benicasim and Castellon, Spain, from 12 to 20 October 2019, lest anyone be misled by the misrepresentative news circulated in this regard, the following factual information is provided below:

– The organization of the Junior World Championship was assigned to the Portuguese Padel Federation by resolution of the FIP passed at the Annual General Assembly held in Malaga on October 12, 2017;

– This award was confirmed at the Annual General Assembly held in Asunción on November 2, 2018;

– On 18 December 2018 — just ten months ahead of the previously scheduled world event — the President of the Portuguese Padel Federation waived the organisation of the aforesaid event without giving any prior notice;

– It was, therefore, necessary to ask affiliated federations to solve the problem caused by the sudden resignation of the Portuguese Padel Federation: for this purpose, by email sent by FIP dated December 24, 2018, all the affiliated federations were invited to submit new applications for the organization of the Junior World Championships, 2019;

– Unfortunately, as all members know, the FIP did not receive any requests at the end of the deadline set for sending applications on January 18, 2019.

– In a statement dated February 6, 2019, in which the unsuccessful result of the tender was indicated, the FIP announced that it would insist on finding a solution that would allow the celebration of the Junior World Championships.

– Immediately after, the FIP received the candidacy of the Federacion de Padel de la Comunidad de Valencia (Regional Federation integrated into the Spanish Padel Federation);

– Thereupon, as has been the case in previous FIP’s tournaments, on 2 April 2019 the Board of Directors of the FIP— having previously obtained the express approval of the Spanish Padel Federation (as formally expressed in a letter dated 21 February 2019 signed by its President, Mr Alfredo Garbisu Elzaurdy) — in the exercise of its powers and its institutional duties, unanimously awarded the organisation of the competition to the Federacion de Padel de la Comunidad de Valencia;

– This was officially announced on 8 April 2019, without any objections being raised by any member Federation in any respect;

– On the contrary, expressions of appreciation for the solution found by the FIP were aplenty, inasmuch as a solution had been found in a very short period of time to remedy an unfortunate turn of events which were jeopardising the conduct of a competition considered to be crucial for the development of our sport at the youth level.

Having clarified the situation from a factual perspective — and with reference being made to the rules governing the running of the FIP, which rules were recently reported to have been allegedly violated — it should be noted that in the period between the General Meetings (Article 20.2 of the By-laws) the Board has the power to adopt, by way of derogation from its ordinary powers, such measures as may be deemed necessary to ensure the smooth running of the Federation’s activities, including the conduct of international competitions. A similar power is attributed to the President of the FIP pursuant to Article 18.5(iii) of the aforesaid By-laws.

Therefore, (i) in compliance with the statutory rules, (ii) in the pursuit of its institutional aims and (iii) in the light of the exceptional situation arisen from the Portuguese Padel Federation’s waiver of the organisation of the Junior World Championships, the Board awarded the organisation of this event to the Federacion de padel de la Comunidad de Valencia. Moreover, this was done in compliance with the rules in force and subject to the prior approval of the Spanish Padel Federation.

The measure adopted by the Board will be submitted to the General Meeting for ratification on the occasion of its meeting scheduled to take place in Benicasim, Spain on 18 October 2019, as all the recipients hereof may see under point 10 of the relevant Agenda.

In the light of the foregoing, it is surprising that alleged doubts about the legitimacy of the work carried out by the FIP are speciously raised just two weeks before the start of the Junior World Championships with the ill‐concealed intention to boycott its conduct, and it is just as surprising that some of these doubts are raised by individuals who actively took part in the award process, such as the President of the Spanish Padel Federation.

Therefore, all member Federations are urged to commit to the success of the event with a view to ensuring the maximum spreading of Padel and the rise of new champions: the achievement of these objectives shall indeed help to overcome any misunderstandings and do away with any fruitless pursuit of personal interest.

Finally, and based on the above, the Board of Directors of the FIP reaffirms the celebration of the XII Junior World Championship, to be held, from 12 to 19 October 2019, in the cities of Benicasim and Castellon, Spain.

We have the privilege and pleasure of sharing with all of you the correspondence just received by the President of GAISF, Dr. Raffaele Chiulli.

GAISF is the Global Association of International Sports Federations.

Founded in 1967, recognized by the International Olympic Committee, GAISF is a key pillar of the wider sports movement and acts as the voice for its 125 Members, Associate Observers Members.

We are happy that the steps taken so far towards the GAISF are seen in the right direction.  This confirms that the pathway followed so far by the International Padel Federation is the right one.

Of course, there is still a way to go, but we are confident that with the spirit of unity we can achieve the mission of making our sport as Olympic.