💬 Discussion 💬

Paying Pros to join main draws in Pro tournaments ok or not ok?

812 commentsu/dxzd883w ago

In light of this controversy in FIP Albania: [https://www.reddit.com/r/padel/comments/1to7ta4/what\_is\_this\_level\_in\_fip\_platinum\_albania\_jofre/](https://www.reddit.com/r/padel/comments/1to7ta4/what_is_this_level_in_fip_platinum_albania_jofre/) And also now has blown up on instagram and other outlets. Do you guys think its okay to pay pro's to join main draws and skip qualifiers? For some upcoming stars (especially local talent in Asia) its the only way to get points. Or should there be a rule change? If so, what would be the best way to handle this? FYI, this is not even about coaching on court because there is not much coaching happening, its just buying your way into main draws. Also let’s not have any hate comments on whether this specific player is good or bad. Just in general is it moral?

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Comments (12)

u/Any_Elk74953w ago

It shouldn’t be allowed, that spot could go to a junior who is actually winning tournaments and deserves it. The fact that he joined Platinum is an absolute joke. And the other levels should be managed too to keep certain ranked players out.

u/MajorLeeScrewed3w ago

He did the same thing in a FIP Bronze in Singapore and lost even more badly.

u/Quickloot3w ago

Yeah, right now, that is the only way the 2nd-3rd tier of pros are getting sufficient money to live by. It sucks, it feels like pay to win, because if you are a rising talent you need to pay seasoned pros to play with you so you can rise through the ranks. Thats the caveat of being a doubles sport.

u/zemvpferreira3w ago

Much ado about nothing. If people want to clutch their pearls, save it for the pros and semi-pros who pay players with more points to help rank them up. That dynamic has a material impact on the ranking, prevents talent with less money from rising as quickly as they should and it happens all the damn time. Some dork paying to get knocked out on the first round is comparatively inconsequential. If you really, really want to be pissed at something then get pissed at people who fix matches to win bets. That's the real cancer and every other minor problem should be ignored until it's magically solved.

u/Aizpunr3w ago

I don’t see a better way. How do you decide who can and who cannot pair with eachother? Any artificial blocker you put is going to be arbitrary.

u/spam__likely3w ago

maybe you just need to be above a certain ranking no matter who your partner is.

u/Aizpunr3w ago

But that defeats the purpose of open tournaments imo. You and I can join.

u/bachaterol3w ago

This is hard to prevent even on a recreational level, as you see many lower ranked Playtomic players attached to a higher ranked teammate to boost their ranking by playing against opponents their level (and approving requests of their stronger partner to join the match). Without being an expert at this, I could recommend using a joint team ranking (average of the ranking points of both players) to qualify for a certain tournament category. OR Allowing partnerships only if the ranking points of two players are within a certain range.

u/dxzd88OP3w ago

I mean wild cards aside, since the host is dumping so much money in their and they want their top players to have exposure. I think a join team ranking would be interesting. Minimum 200 points per player for platinum etc.

u/dirtydansie3w ago

Partners needing to be within a certain range of each other makes sense

u/redditcomment13w ago

"For some upcoming stars....." Ah, no, this guy, and others like him who pay WR players to play with them in FIPS, are not upcoming stars. They're not "local talent in Asia." Local talent can go through the qualifying. As said before, a disgrace to the sport, shouldn't be allowed.

u/spam__likely3w ago

Wow. I just watched and it is so embarrassing.