Talent out of the national team squad — criticism against the regulations

Claudia Fernandez is out from Spain's squad for the Junior World Cup. She played in the quarter-finals at the WPT while the Spanish federation organized a training camp. 
The decision to remove her from the squad has now attracted strong criticism. 

Although Claudia Fernandez is eligible for selection and was initially included in the Spanish squad for the Junior World Cup in Paraguay, the FEP, the Spanish padel federation, has now announced that one of the world´s most remarkable talent at the moment is removed from participation. 

The reason is that Fernandez played in the quarterfinals at the World Padel Tour's competition in Germany. At the same time, the Spanish national team had a national team camp in Madrid over the weekend.

The decision has now led to strong reactions from padel followers on social media.

The player's agency, Goat Sports Management, has issued a statement on its social media channels about the incident:

"The player intended to join the training camp after participating in the German WPT. Besides Claudia, there were other players that FEP had called to the camp and registered in the WPT competition. However, only Claudia managed to make it to the Round of 16, so this schedule crash occurred".

Wants to see a change

Many are now calling for a change in the Spanish regulations, which state that attending the training camp was mandatory. 

"Goat advocates compliance with rules and their adaptation to progress and changes in the regulated environment. Padel is a sport that is making great progress quickly," the company writes on its social channels.

The post has been widely shared throughout the day and is receiving much support from Spanish followers of the sport.

Claudia Fernandez is a given member of the Spanish junior squad and, despite her age of 17, has reached the quarterfinals several times on the World Padel Tour this year. She is ranked number 20 in the World Padel Tour rankings and is currently paired with Victoria Iglesias.