Lisandro Borges about Players Padel Tour: ”We intend to have the best players in the world”
The war for the world's best padel players is on. Now the Players Padel Tour has launched and is going on the offensive to attract the world's best padel players. Among other things, the prize money will be increased by three to four times compared to today.
— We intend to have the best players in the world on our tour in the very near future, Lisandro Borges, the tournament director of the Players Padel Tour, says to Padel Alto.
The World Padel Tour has been the leading world tour since the early 2010s. Now the tour is under threat. Both from the existing APT Padel Tour with Fabrice Pastor at the top, the man who threatened the World Padel Tour already a few years ago.
Last week, a new Instagram account called Players Padel Tour was launched. Now the man behind the tour, Lisandro Borges, speaks out to Padel Alto about the plans.
— We want to give back the power to the players. Players Padel Tour is the first professional padel circuit designed for the players. It is profitable, modern, fair, and well balanced for a professional tour, Lisandro Borges says.He doesn't know when the tour will start or who will be on it yet. But Borges, together with business people and investment funds, is aiming for the world's best players to play on the Players Padel Tour in the future.
— Yes, we intend to have the best players in the world on our tour in the very near future. All professionals will be able to participate, and the start of the circuit depends on the players, he says.
The players' contracts with the World Padel Tour expire after the 2023 season. Then it's open for the tours to compete for the best players. Lisandro Borges himself doesn't want to see PPT complement the World Padel Tour or another tour.
— We don't believe in the coexistence of several tours, as it would be unfeasible and comes with many problems. Like ranking, for example. No sport in the world has several circuits. We believe that it should be many tournaments but regulated by one single circuit, Lisandro Borges says.
Seven world-class players, including Alejandro Galan, Fernando Belasteguin, and Paquito Navarro, formed the Professional Padel Association. The association's demands are financial improvements and that tours should not be able to sign individual contracts to tie players in.
" The first steps of this association will aim at finding a new circuit proposal, either with the current organizer WPT or with new organizers or circuits that are interested in working together with our association."
Lisandro Borges explains how the tour will benefit the player's prize money and the cooperation with the newly formed association.
— The prize money will be 3 or 4 times higher than the circuit distributes today. To that, we will add a pension fund for the players, and 50 % of the profits left by the circuit will be given to the Professional Padel Association to be distributed every year, he says.
Argentinian Lisandro Borges was the man behind the America vs Europe concept that ran in Sweden this summer where players like Alejandro Galan, Paquito Navarro, Fernando Belasteguin, and Sanyo Gutierrez played.
In recent years, the World Padel Tour has been centered on Spain, one example being that 14 of the 19 World Padel Tour events this season are in Spain. Something Lisandro Borges wants to change in his tour, Players Padel Tour.
— It is a 100 % international circuit. The tournaments will be held all around the world, he says.
