Philippine Padel Association questions replacement of four Asian Games athletes after POC had registered and publicly announced them
- Published: 9 September, 2026
- Philippines
- News
- 5-min read
The Philippine Padel Association (PPA) has questioned the Philippine Olympic Committee’s (POC) decision to remove four of its nominated athletes from the country’s padel delegation for the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games without formal notice, explanation or documentation.
In a public statement issued on 8 September, PPA said that Rovanny Conle Triano, Jessica Lucas, Mhar Joseph Serra and Manuel Balce III – all four of whom appeared on the official roster the POC published on 11 August – no longer feature in the delegation subsequently reported for the Philippines. PPA says it did not withdraw the nominations and did not agree to any replacement.
PPA did not withdraw these nominations, did not agree to their replacement, and has still received no formal documentation from POC regarding their removal or replacement process.
The timeline, according to PPA
Speaking to World Padel Network®, PPA Founder and President Alenna Dawn set out the association’s account of events. She says the POC directly requested that PPA nominate one men’s pair and one women’s pair, and that athlete profiles, credentials and documentation were submitted in response. On 22 July, PPA says, the POC confirmed that the registration had been filed with all four athletes included. On 11 August the POC announced its padel roster publicly, naming the four alongside a second men’s pair, a second women’s pair, a coach and a team official.
Then, on 24 August, PPA says it received an informal text message from the POC stating that the four entries had been replaced. According to the association, no revised delegation, replacement documentation or names of the replacement athletes were provided. PPA says it only learned who those athletes were on 8 September, through a report by Sports On Air PH that cited the POC as its source.
“PPA did not withdraw these nominations, did not agree to their replacement, and has still received no formal documentation from POC regarding their removal or replacement process,” Dawn told World Padel Network. She adds that, to the PPA’s knowledge, the four athletes have not been contacted directly by the POC either.
PPA says it can substantiate this chronology with the original nomination request, its athlete submissions, the 22 July confirmation, the 24 August message and its subsequent formal correspondence. World Padel Network has not yet reviewed those documents.
We would like the international padel community to stand with the affected athletes and support the principles that should protect every player in our sport. We are fighting for our players, not against other players.
A governance dispute underneath
Behind the removals sits an unresolved question of who governs padel in the Philippines, and Dawn stresses that “this is not only an OCA governance question.”
PPA is the federation affiliated with the International Padel Federation (FIP), which lists it as the Philippine member in its directory. PPA says it applied to the POC for domestic recognition in 2023 and has never received a written decision. It says a separate group, Padel Pilipinas, has since been granted provisional recognition by the POC, and that the athletes now reported in the revised delegation are associated with that group.
PPA points to the Olympic Council of Asia By-Laws, which require national governing bodies to be affiliated with their international federation and provide that a National Olympic Committee shall recognise no more than one governing body per sport. It also cites Section 8.1 of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Padel Technical Handbook, which it says restricts eligibility to athletes holding a valid national licence and gives the relevant national federation the role of nominating pairs where entries exceed quota.
PPA says it has not issued a national licence to any of the eight athletes in the revised delegation, though it stresses that any eligibility determination belongs to FIP and the Games authorities, not to PPA.
“Our concern is not with those individual athletes,” Dawn said. “We are fighting for our players, not against other players.”
What PPA is asking for
PPA says its objective is for the Philippines to compete in Aichi-Nagoya with Philippine athletes on court, but through a process that is fair, transparent and compliant with the applicable rules. It is seeking a formal determination on the eligibility of the athletes currently entered, an explanation of how its four nominees were removed after being registered and publicly announced, confirmation that replacement procedures were followed and, if the replacement entries do not meet the requirements, a pathway for the original four to be reinstated.
The association says it raised concerns about the selection process with the POC as early as June, proposing neutral selection matches open to all eligible Philippine players regardless of affiliation, and that a petition supported by athletes was submitted to the POC requesting a transparent process.
World Padel Network® is seeking comment from the Philippine Olympic Committee and will update this article with any response.
Padel makes its Asian Games debut in Aichi-Nagoya later this month.
Jamie Rowe
World Padel Network