Worlds, Euros and Premier Padel ’24 dates announced
2024 is gearing up to be a mammoth year for padel, with provisional dates released for the European and World Championships and the much-awaited Premier Padel calendar announced.
FIP – the International Padel Federation – has chalked in the European Championships for the end of March 2024. They had been expected to take place in October/November 2023 in Sardinia, Italy. However, with just weeks to go – and with some national squads having selected teams – FIP announced their postponement to early 2024, citing tight game schedules and negotiations between FIP, Premier Padel and the World Padel Tour (more of which below).
The Europeans are normally held every two years, slotting in between the World Championships. However, because 2023 was missed, next year will see both tournaments run, with the World Championships pencilled in for late October/early November. Venues for both have yet to be announced.
There will be high hopes that both the GB men and ladies squads will qualify for the Worlds; the men made it through to the finals in Dubai 2022 but the ladies narrowly missed out on a place. British padel fans will also be waiting to see if the European qualifiers for the Worlds return to the UK – in 2022 they were held at We Are Padel in Derby, the first time they’d come to Great Britain.
Premier Padel schedule
It’s the news that many padel fans have been awaiting – the Premier Padel 2024 tournament schedule. Here’s the statement accompanying it:
“The 2024 season will see 25 tournaments spanning 18 countries across five continents taking place throughout the year, demonstrating Premier Padel’s ongoing commitment to reach new markets, grow the game globally and inspire more people to participate.
The season will begin on February 26th with the Riyadh P1, taking place as part of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season, and will be immediately followed by the Qatar Major. The tour will then move to Mexico and Venezuela in South America before coming to Brussels and Andalusia in April and May.
Following this it returns to South America – including Premier Padel’s first visit to Paraguay and Chile. The tour then swings back to Europe in June and July, before a mid-season break in August. The season resumes in Europe and the Middle East – including new Premier Padel locations Rotterdam, Dusseldorf, Sweden, Dubai, and Kuwait City, with further tournaments planned for new locations, before the Milan P1 closes the main part of the season as it has done for the past two years. The calendar will conclude with the first-ever edition of the Premier Padel Tour Finals in Barcelona on December 18-22 when the top-ranked pairs battle it out for the final trophy of the 2024 Premier Padel season.
Since launching in 2022, Premier Padel has become one of the fastest growing tours in world sport. More than 500 male players from around the world competed in Premier Padel tournaments in its first year, playing in iconic sports venues including the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris.
And more 110 leading professional female players joined Premier Padel in March 2023.
Premier Padel has secured multi-year broadcast agreements that cover 180+ countries reaching more than 150 million households, while the first two Premier Padel seasons attracted almost 25 million views on YouTube.
In August 2023, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) together with the International Padel Federation (FIP), backed by the Professional Padel Association (PPA) and the International Padel Players Association (IPPA), announced that an historic agreement had been reached with Damm, the owner of Setpoint Events which organises the World Padel Tour (WPT), for QSI to acquire WPT to create a single global professional padel tour – called Premier Padel – in 2024 under the governance of FIP. The 2024 Premier Padel Calendar will be the first season of the newly unified tour.
Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, Chairman of Premier Padel, said: “We are delighted to announce our much-anticipated 2024 calendar. This year will be the first season of the newly unified Premier Padel tour, which will take the sport to the next level – both for the players, who we place at the heart of our tour, but also the whole padel ecosystem. We are looking forward to seeing Premier Padel excite and inspire fans in our fantastic established locations, but also emerging markets around the world as we look to grow the sport in every way. 2024 will be a landmark year for Premier Padel as we proudly continue to build one of the most exciting tours in global sport.”
Luigi Carraro, President of the International Padel Federation, said: “The 2024 season marks the beginning of a new era for Premier Padel as the tour expands to 25 tournaments held across five continents – and truly becomes padel’s first global professional tour. Together with our national federations, we are pleased to see the sport grow audiences and participants all around the world, as the tour visits new cities and countries inspiring the next generation. At the International Padel Federation, we are proud to be creating an amazing legacy and building a fantastic future for our sport, with the players at the centre of shaping the tour. We look forward to 2024 being the most exciting season yet, for Premier Padel and also the sport of padel.”
The Board of Directors of the Professional Padel Association (PPA) said: “The players are excited to play in the newly unified and expanded Premier Padel tour. We are looking forward to returning to cities where we have strong support and large fanbases, as well as visiting new locations, as we continue to work with Premier Padel to elevate padel to greater international prominence.”
The Board of the International Padel Players Association (IPPA), said: “After a successful first season as part of the Premier Padel tour, the IPPA, the female players’ association, is looking forward to a greater second season that is expanding to much more tournaments around the globe. We are delighted with Premier Padel’s commitment to building a successful sporting event for all and look forward to strengthening our relationship to continue contributing to the growth of padel, also for women, worldwide. We are all excited about the 2024 season.” 🎾
