Federation
A federation is a national or international governing body for padel. The FIP is the world federation. National federations include LTA Padel (UK), FEP (Spain), FIT Padel (Italy), FFT-Padel (France), UAEP (UAE), and API (Indonesia). Federations regulate competitions, coaching qualifications, club affiliation and rankings within their territory.
What is a padel federation?
A federation is the governing body recognised as responsible for padel within a country or globally. Federations write rule interpretations, sanction tournaments, manage rankings, regulate coaching qualifications, and approve club affiliation. The FIP oversees national federations and runs the global ranking and rules.
When do you encounter a federation?
Any time you compete in a sanctioned tournament, take a coaching qualification, or play at an affiliated club. Recreational social padel does not require federation membership, but competitive ladders, leagues and tournaments do. In the UK, the LTA is the National Governing Body for padel.
How national federations work with FIP
National federations affiliate to the FIP and follow its rules and ranking systems. Where there is a discrepancy, FIP rules and rankings take precedence for international competitions. National federations have autonomy on coaching qualifications, club affiliation criteria and national-level competitions.
Quick reference: FIP = world federation. National federations = LTA Padel, FEP, FIT Padel, FFT-Padel, UAEP, API.
Common misconceptions
Britain’s governing body is LTA Padel, not “Padel Federation Britain” or “PFB”. The pre-LTA national body was British Padel (sometimes called British Padel Federation, BPF), which allied with the LTA in 2019 to create today’s LTA Padel.
