ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
Television presenter Cyril photographed during the Roland-Garros tournament in Paris, June 9, 2024.
“I have lots of friends in padel now.” When he is not on the set of W9 or on the air on Fun Radio, Cyril Hanouna spends part of his time playing padel, this sport at the crossroads between tennis and squash currently in full expansion. And for « se faire kiffer », he managed to rise to 151st French rank. A ranking that he is not really worth, and that he paid to achieve
The host confirmed this in an interview with West Francepublished this Sunday 31Â May. “I’m not a goat after all”, However, he qualifies, estimating that he is in 600th place, considering only his own talent.
But this is the specificity of padel: the sport is played in doubles. And to climb the rankings, many players including Cyril Hanouna are resorting to an increasingly widespread practice, “tournois coachés ». Concretely, an amateur or intermediate level player can associate with a partner much higher ranked than him and benefit from mechanically increased odds.
A practice “prohibited and punishable » selon la FFT
Often, this association is not free: the lowest ranked player covers the partner’s costs, or even pays him directly to play the tournament alongside him. Thanks to this high-level teammate, he has access to competitions that he would not normally have access to alone. However, the higher the level of the tournament (P500, P1000 or more) the more points distributed.
Result: a participant can accumulate valuable points by taking advantage of their partner’s ranking. By doing this type of competition, it is possible to climb the national rankings much faster.
Except that there is a catch, because this method is viewed very negatively by the French Tennis Federation, which organizes the practice of padel. “The FFT condemns the practice whereby players of padel pay others to form a team with the aim of moving one of the partners up the rankingsâ€a-t-elle déclaré à West France.
“This type of practice is unsporting, and goes against the values and ethics of sport. The FFT confirms that, as specified in its sporting regulations, these practices are prohibited and punishable, since they undermine the integrity of padel competitions.she adds.
« I pay for the tournaments, the stuff, the hotel…»
However, the method does not seem to pose a problem to Cyril Hanouna, who openly admits to having paid his partners. “I started with Max Moreau (former world top 100 and French number 2), who was my teacher, to get into tournaments more quickly. We made a package and he did a few tournaments with me.”he says.
He then collaborated with several other champions, while offering them compensation. “I pay for the tournaments, the stuff, the hotel, the restaurant…” he summarizes. The host maintains that many players also offer to play together because of his notoriety: “There are a lot of people coming to see me, it’s great. And for these players it gives them a great showcase to make themselves known.”
However, some high-level players are annoyed by this system which distorts the ranking. Others recognize that they are never unhappy to come across Cyril Hanouna in the table, his level being well below that of the players he is supposed to face.
