Footballing stars face off in first ever padel ‘Legends’ tournament at the World Cup in Qatar

With the World Cup heading into its final days, one of the off-pitch stories of the tournament has been the take-up of the sport ‘padel’ by several of football’s biggest names.

Padel is the world’s fastest-growing racket sport and is becoming increasingly popular among retired footballers.

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also president of Premier Padel – the leading professional padel tour – has stepped up to meet that demand by organising a daily tournament during the 2022 World Cup with stars such as Kaka, Clarence Seedorf and Brazilian Ronaldo taking part.

Several footballing icons competed in the first ever Padel ‘Legends’ tournament out in Qatar –  Footballing stars pictured (L-R: top row – Adlene Guedioura, Marco Materazzi, Christian Vieri, Patrick Kluivert, John Terry, Javier Pastore, Arsene Wenger, Francesco Totti, David Dein – bottom row – Diego Forlan, Robbie Keane, Ronald De Boer, Alessandro Del Piero, Clarence Seedorf, Iker Casillas, Vincent Candela)

And Premier Padel then hosted its first ever ‘Legends’ tournament at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Lusail, giving several of these stars another chance to get their competitive juices flowing.

Organised by Al-Khelaifi, players from across professional football, sport and business, along with locally-based professional players took part in a pairs tournament, consisting of 40 players. 

Some of the former footballing stars that competed included Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Diego Forlan, Francesco Totti, John Terry and Gabriel Batistuta.

There were also several high-profile spectators during the tournament, including Arsene Wenger, David Dein – a former vice-chairman of Arsenal and Kaka – who was not competing in the sport on this occasion, while Danish striker and ITV pundit Nadia Nadim was also in attendance. 

Vincent Candela, who won the World Cup with France in 1998, was victorious with his partner Khaled Saldoon as they beat Marco Materazzi – another former World Cup winner with Italy in 2006 – and his partner Mohammed Abdullah, 7-5 in a tie-break in the final.

Vincent Candela (middle right) and his partner Khaled Saldoon (R) emerged victorious over Marco Materazzi (middle left) and his partner Mohammed Abdullah (L) 7-5 in the final

Several footballing stars played in the Legends tournament including Brazil icon Ronaldo (L)

The tournament was organised by Premier Padel and PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi (R – pictured with world No 2 tennis star Ons Jabeur, left)

Major sponsors of the tournament included Rolex, Fifty One East, Reserve Padel and Alo.

Padel is a hybrid sport of tennis and squash and is enjoyed by more than 25 million people around the world – with David Beckham, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo notable devotees of the sport. 

Meanwhile, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is so enamoured that he has entered into a partnership with Wilson to promote a Padel racket bearing his signature, and has had a court installed at Liverpool’s training ground. 

Al-Khelaifi has been a driving force not just behind this megastar tournament but also in the growth of Padel in his role as chairman of Premier Padel.

Premier Padel is the only official global Padel tour and it launched earlier this year, with competition governed and regulated by the International Padel Federation (FIP).

Padel is played on a 10 metre by 20m court enclosed by glass walls and metal fencing and is usually played in doubles rather than singles – which is the case in this blockbuster tournament.

The enclosed space and the ability to play shots off the glass means the ball rarely goes out of play, creating longer rallies, which is the squash-like element of the sport.

Serving is underarm and the points system is the same as in tennis.

The competition was fiercely contested at the inaugural ‘Legends’ tournament, with Italian legend Francesco Totti (pictured) in action

Padel tournaments during the Qatar World Cup have become a who’s who of some of football’s greatest players as Clarence Seedorf (far left), Patrick Kluivert (second left), Ronaldo (second from right) and Kaka (far right) take to the Padel court earlier in the tournament

Smaller racquets are used to those in tennis and players can fire shots off the glass walls 

The balls used are similar to tennis balls but the racquets are solid with no strings.

Padel is pushing to be recognised as an Olympic sport and included in the Olympic Games.

For now, Premier Padel provides international and national competitions – including four top category Major tournaments – similar to Grand Slams in tennis.

Those take place in Doha, Qatar, Rome, Italy, Paris, France and Monterrey, Mexico.

At least 10 tournaments – including the 4 Majors – are scheduled for 2022 and 2023, ramping up to over 25 annual tournaments by 2024.

Premier Padel can be seen in over 180 countries around the world – with broadcasters such as beIN SPORTS, ESPN and Sky Sports.