Yesterday evening I was chatting with Maria, waiting for our turn on the padel court. Being an Olympic year the conversation drifted to the chances of padel ever becoming an Olympic sport. So I took to Google to see what the situation was. This is what I learned.
Is padel an Olympic sport? Although padel is not yet an Olympic sport, it has met all but one of the requirements needed. On 13 September 2019 padel was recognized as an international sport by the IOC. Once the male side of the sport reaches 75 National Federations, Olympic Status can be obtained.
It seems like the IOC has put so many barriers to entry for sports to join the Olympic games as a way to ensure that the most widely popular sports make it onto the roster. That way the television rights market can be as wide as possible. Let’s unpack those barriers so that we can see how many padel has already exceeded.
The Five Olympic Rings
I find it rather ironic that the IOC has five interlocking rings as their logo.
Sure we all know the story of the original symbolism, where each ring represents a continent. Those continents being America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa.
I have come to realize that those same rings represent something completely different for a sport that wants to get Olympic status. These same rings symbolize the five different hoops that a sport needs to jump through in their application process.
- WADA Guidelines
- ARISF Observer Status
- Minimum Number Of Continents
- Minimum Number Of Countries
- Small Window Of Opportunity
1. WADA Guidelines
The first hoop for a sport to jump through is that of adhering to the WADA guidelines. That includes both in and out of competition testing.
Padel managed to jump through this first hoop by moving almost all the top elite level tournaments into the stand-alone World Padel Tour. This creates a separated pool of the elite level players which is easier to monitor under WADA guidelines.
2. ARISF Observer Status
Once a sport receives confirmation from WADA that it has conformed to all the WADA guidelines that are in place and it has a recognized international federation, that international federation can apply to the Association of IOC Recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF) for observer-status.
Observer status is the lowest tier of ARISF membership which is why it is the second hoop that a sport needs to jump through.
The process of jumping through the third and fourth hoops will allow a sport to move from observer status to full member status of the ARISF. Only full members of the ARISF can apply to become Olympic sports.
On 13 September 2019, the International Padel Federation received a letter from the ARISF confirming that padel has ARISF observer status.
3. Minimum Number Of Continents
The next two hoops do not have a specific order, but normally sports are able to meet the criteria of minimum continents before the minimum countries requirement.
The sport must be played by me on at least 4 continents and by men on at least three continents by women. Padel has registered federations in countries on six continents for women and men so that hoop has already been jumped.
4. Minimum Number Of Countries
In almost every instance, this is the last external hoop to be jumped through prior to actually applying to become an Olympic sport.
To meet this requirement, the sport needs to be played by men in 75 countries and by women in 40 countries.
At the time of writing, padel has registered national federations for women and men in 38 different countries. So the requirements for women’s padel to be fully IOC recognized is almost complete, but the men’s game still has a way to go.
5. Small Window Of Opportunity
Once all of the other interlinked hoops have been cleared there remains the final time-sensitive hoop.
As you already know, the Olympic Games takes place every four years. A lesser-known fact is that the opening for sports to apply for Olympic status also only takes place every four years.
This takes place during the year following an Olympic Games year. Any sport selected for Olympic Status will be in the Olympic Games, not in the next Olympics, but the one following after that.
By way of example. The year 2020 is an Olympic year with the Summer Games taking place in Tokyo. That means that the meetings to choose the new Olympic Sports will happen during 2021. The new sports selected will not be in the 2024 Olympic Games, but will rather debut at the 2028 Olympic Games.
The number of sports included at the Olympic Games is constrained by the time schedule. The Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 will feature 33 different sports. Most of the time, in order for a new sport to be included in the Olympics, another sport needs to be removed from the roster.
My guess is that after an Olympic Games has finished, the IOC meets to discuss which sports drew the highest and lowest television viewership. Those sports that don’t pull enough television rights earnings will be in line to be replaced by sports that have a greater chance of appealing to a wider audience.
Just built the first padel court in Botswana in Maun if this helps?
Hi John,
Please make contact using the contact form in the footer section of the website.
We’d love to do a post about the first padel court in Botswana!
Kind regards
We are building a new Padel Club in Cyprus with 15 courts.
It is a new sport for our city, Cyprus has only 4 courts at the moment.
How can you help us promote and grow Padel in Cyprus.
Drop me a message via the contact form and we can make a plan to get an article about padel in Cyprus published.
We’re hosting the African Qualifier for Monaco 2023 as we speak at the Padel Africa courts at Morningside Country Club, Sandton, South Africa.