FIP and Premier Padel have officially recognised October 20 as World Padel Day, formalising a date the global padel community was already using. The announcement, issued from Lausanne, comes with a renewed call to include padel in the Olympic Games
To make the case, FIP leans on the numbers from its World Padel Report 2026: about 40 million amateur players in 191 countries and territories, with women making up 47% of participants, and more than 91,000 courts. FIP Promises junior competition runs in 36 countries, the CUPRA FIP Tour visits 59 host countries, Premier Padel is broadcast in 244 territories and the FIP network counts 115 national federations
An economic study by OpenEconomics, based on FIP data, estimates that padel will contribute €8.6 billion to global GDP in 2026 and support about 236,000 full-time equivalent jobs. FIP is also recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia, the European Olympic Committees, the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, the South American Sports Organization, the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games and FISU, and padel was part of the 2023 European Games and the 2026 South American, Mediterranean and Asian Games
FIP President Luigi Carraro says padel can bring the Olympic Games a global community, competitive events for women and men, and a sport people can keep playing after the Games, so that young people can dream of representing their country at the Olympics. The campaign includes a new film, with the Games in Brisbane in 2032 as the target, and closes with the line "Padel is fit for the future. Padel is ready for Brisbane 2032"
