FIP:s explanation after the European Championship disaster in Marbella: ”Covid”

The Corona pandemic is the reason why the European Championship in Marbella was an organizational chaos, says FIP's competition director José Catalan.
— The restrictions prevented us, says "Queco.” 

MARBELLA

"The worst championship of the last ten years," said Franck Binisti, a journalist at Padel Magazine who had cover championships in ten years. 

"It's a mess. It would have been nice to shower after the games," said the player in Great Britain, Sandy Farquharson.

"There's a lot that could be improved," said the Swedish Padel Federation's director of operations, Calle Åkesson.

”We are in 2021. I am a coach and want to see my players comfortable and happy. When I don´t see them comfortable and happy, I am not happy either. We dint have cold water or bananas. Soon, we are not going to have it like this”, said Padel Alto´s expert and the national coach of Great Britain. 

”Many things have to improve in this tournament”, said the Spanish superstar Juan Martin Diaz. 

The International Padel Federation (FIP) does not want to call the championship that ended on Saturday a failure. This is how it sounds when competition director José "Queco" Catalan looks back on the European Championship week.

— Well... good tournament from the game, the matches, the results. Of course, the weather is perfect. The crowd. But of course, the bad thing is covid-19. The restrictions prevented us from holding a canon championship. Unfortunate that we still have Covid against us, says Catalan.

As I understand it, the Spanish federation has been given full responsibility for the way the European Championship has been organized. Is that right?

- Yes, of course, the Spanish federation has a lot of responsibility, but we from FIP are involved and try to raise the level of the organization. But again, this thing with covid... it isn't easy.

We have talked to both Swedish and Belgian broadcasters who bought the rights to broadcast. They are upset because the TV production has not been as promised. 

— It was the first time we released the TV rights in this way. We need money to organize the European Championships. The TV company Padel View bought the rights to produce the whole championship... we tried something new this time, so we'll see how we do next time.

But was it agreed that all the matches would be broadcast?

— It's a contract between the Spanish Padel Federation and the company, so I don't have all the details about it. But for the next competition, we will make sure that all the European Championship matches can be streamed.

Of course, there are more fun things to talk about than the organizational breakdown. José Catalan is really pleased with the great development in several countries.

— Almost all teams except Spain are so even. There are like nine teams that can finish anywhere from second to tenth behind Spain. But a lot of them are coming up to their level

Which nation or nations surprised you the most?

— I'm surprised by the Nordic countries. Especially Denmark and Finland. The ones I'm most impressed with are Finland. It's the first time I've seen them because they haven't played the FIP European Championship before.