It’s no news that padel is one of the most popular sports right now. It is practiced by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. But when can it be an Olympic sport? Why is it not yet part of the Olympic sport? What are the rules of padel? Next, we’ll tell you everything you should know about Olympic padel.

The reality of the Olympic padel today

The requirements to be an Olympic sport

Sports that want to take part in the Olympic Games must meet certain requirements. The padel must meet four main requirements, some more difficult than others. In fact, padel already fulfills some of these. These are the four requirements:

• Officially have an international federation. In other words, it must have an institution that regulates it worldwide. In addition, they must meet the ethical requirements of the Olympic Committee and regularly participate in tournaments and events.
• Another of the most important requirements is compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code. As is already known, the world of professional sports is completely against actions related to the use of illegal substances.
• The third requirement is that in an Olympic sport the athlete cannot have a motor drive, that is, he cannot be assisted by any type of machine.
• After all, in order to be an Olympic sport, one of the most important requirements is that the discipline is practiced in at least 75 countries and 4 continents for the men’s category. On the female side, it is necessary that the sport be practiced in 40 countries on at least 3 continents.

Requirements already met by the padel

Now that you know what the Olympic Committee requires of a sport that is considered Olympic, you certainly have doubts as to which of these requirements are already met by padel. Of the four requirements, padel meets four of them.

The padel already has an official international federation, and each country has its own federation. Likewise, all professional events in this sport are subject to a strict code of ethics regarding doping, so we can say that this problem has already been resolved. Padel also hits the third point, as this sport does not require any type of drive.

The detail is in the fourth requirement, which relates to the number of people who practice this sport. Unfortunately there is a record that fewer than 60 countries have a padel association. That number still doesn’t reach the minimum 75 countries required, but we’re getting closer every year. It is for this reason that the International Padel Federation is constantly working to bring padel to the world.

When can we finally see padel in the olympic games?

It’s actually very hard to tell when we got to see the Olympic padel for the first time. Even if a sport meets the requirements, it is not easy to get to the Olympics. They usually have to go through a lengthy process, and they don’t always mention that the Olympics are limited to 28 disciplines. That way, it’s harder to achieve when there are 28+ sports that meet the requirement.

The fact is that we will not consider padel at the Olympics at least in 2024, as the list of sports that will be involved is already known. This opens the doors to the Games in Los Angeles in 2028 or Brisbane in 2032, but we have to wait and see if this can become a reality.