As you get into pickleball, you’ll start noticing some acronyms.

Three are particularly prevalent: PPA (Professional Pickleball Association), USAP (USA Pickleball), and IFP (International Federation of Pickleball). As you may have guessed from the title of today’s post, we’re about to talk about the third acronym.

So, what is the IFP?

It’s Actually the International Pickleball Federation Now!

I’m going to start today’s post with an unconventional twist.

I’m going to completely contradict myself!

You heard that right. As of 2023, there is no International Federation of Pickleball. It is now the International Pickleball Federation (IPF). Now, I wouldn’t call swapping two words a huge shake-up, but it does change the acronym. It also caused quite a stir on the web, as the old International Federation of Pickleball website was swapped out for a fresh coat of IPF paint.

(Interestingly enough, you may be able to catch a glimpse of the old IFP blue and white livery. Loading the webpage through the older IFP address directs you to the archived site, which quickly redirects to the IPF domain.)

So, that leaves us with two new questions:

• What happened to the IFP?
• What is the International Pickleball Federation?

I’ll answer the easiest question first.

Okay… What Is the International Pickleball Federation?

As we’ve established, the IPF is the sparkly, new version of the IFP.

It is one of two international governing bodies for pickleball; the other is the World Pickleball Federation (WPF). Moreover, until recently, the IFP and WPF were caught in a cutthroat tug-of-war. (I’ll get to that in a moment.)

The IPF’s primary goal is “to perpetuate the international growth and development of pickleball.” However, setting the sport up for its Olympic debut is also considered one of the organization’s focuses.

As of August 2023, the IPF oversees pickleball in 75 countries.

The Origins of the IPF

The IPF was founded as the IFP (confusing, I know) in 2010 by members of USA Pickleball (USAPA). Its formation followed a wonderful showing at 2009’s National Pickleball Open in Surprise, Arizona.

At that point, pickleball remained an overwhelmingly American sport. Members of USAPA wanted that to change; they wanted to bring the fun of pickleball to the entire world! Unfortunately, they couldn’t do so as the USA Pickleball Association. They needed a global name, which ended up being the “International Federation of Pickleball.”

What Does the IPF Do?

As stated on its website, the IPF has nine goals:

• Accountability: The IPF aims to maintain financial transparency throughout professional pickleball.
• Behavior: The IPF sets the standards for professional sportsmanship and conduct.
• Diversity: As noted on its site, the IPF oversees alternative rules for pickleball, including those used in wheelchair pickleball.
• Funding: Fees and payments collected by the IPF are used to spread the reach of pickleball.
• Olympic Sport: The IPF’s long-term goal is to make pickleball an Olympic sport. In order to do this, the IPF must be recognized by the Global Association of International Sports Federations and have at least 75 member countries.
• Promotion: The IPF promotes pickleball globally.
• Regulations: The IPF regularly updates rules and bylaws for pickleball.
• Standardization: The IPF promotes a standardized rule book. Moreover, each of its member countries has access to the organization’s resources and funding.
• Tournaments: The IPF oversees many official pickleball tournaments. It has also hosted the Bainbridge Cup.

What Happened to the International Federation of Pickleball?

Now, you may be wondering, “What happened to make the International Federation of Pickleball become the International Pickleball Federation?” That’s a great question, but it doesn’t have a simple answer. In fact, the answer is rather messy. Were I to give you a play-by-play breakdown, we’d be here for a while, so I’ll be condensing everything.

(If you’d like to know everything about this, check out John Walters’ amazing Sports Illustrated piece on the topic, “‘Pickleball Is the Wild, Wild West:’ Inside the Fight Over the Fastest-Growing Sport in America.”)

The International Pickleball Federation and the World Pickleball Federation

Like most dramas, the collapse of the IFP began with a rivalry.

The World Pickleball Federation is — like the IPF — a regulatory body. It was founded in 2017 by Seymour Rifkind, who felt his ideas were being ignored by the then-IFP. It, too, aimed to turn pickleball into an Olympic sport. As noted by Karen Mitchell, the president of Pickleball England, the WPF’s presence was “a catalyst for the IFP to finally get things done.”

Who Is Former IFP President Pat Murphy?

Now, with the WPF in mind, let’s fast-forward to 2019.

At this point, the IFP invited pickleball enthusiast Pat Murphy to be the organization’s president. For a variety of reasons, Murphy was (and still is) not fond of Rifkind. Moreover, he wants the IFP to be the de facto regulatory body for pickleball. Shortly after his rise to power, Murphy fired the majority of the IFP’s executive staff.

Steve Sidwell, a former member of the IFP’s board, also alleges that Murphy planned to create a pseudo-absolutist power structure. He recalled that Murphy, in a 2021 meeting, proposed a system by which board members would “keep voting one another in, to limit turnover.”

Around this time, Murphy also began measuring the IFP’s success by counting its country memberships.

And this is the beginning of the end of the International Federation of Pickleball.

2021–2022: The International Governing Body Faces Trouble

Jump forward again.

It is now autumn of 2021, and the Australian branch of the IFP has noticed some discrepancies in the organization’s structure. Jen Ramamurthy and Karen Rust send a joint letter to Pat Murphy’s IFP. In this letter, they acknowledge the impact of the organization’s feud with the WPF on its member countries and propose two solutions:

• Pat Murphy could give Seymour Rifkind a seat on the IFP board.
• The IFP and WPF could enter a truce and introduce pickleball to the world as joint governing bodies.

While Rifkind agreed to “meet halfway,” Murphy refused both measures in January 2022.

A Letter of No Confidence

Following this debacle, board members submitted a letter of no confidence to Pat Murphy. Delivered on February 14, 2022, the letter formally established the organization’s discontent with its leader. 13 breaches of the IFP’s protocols were cited as cause for Murphy’s “immediate resignation.”

The general consensus was that Murphy was too controlling. His all-encompassing need to become the one and only arbitrator of pickleball’s official rules had stifled the growth of the sport. Sidwell, in particular, noted that Murphy had become “an autocratic leader.”

Among Murphy’s slights is one particularly egregious breach of conduct.

In 2021, Murphy announced that the IFP would build a Pickleball World Hall of Fame — likely meant to rival the WPF’s — and a 60-court complex in Toquerville, Utah. This would require at least $25,000 in support, and it was not discussed with others at the annual general meeting. And, interestingly enough, when the IFP’s 2021 financial report was released, $25,000 was unaccounted for. Moreover, there was no official recognition of the Toquerville plans.

The Collapse of the International Federation of Pickleball

All of this built to a nasty collapse.

In the Spring of 2022, the IFP suffered a massive blow: 6 board members, all program directors, and 10 member countries publicly withdrew from the organization. Many of the “major” countries left during this period, including:

• Canada.
• France.
• Mexico.
• The Philippines.
• Spain.
• The United States.

In Pat Murphy’s own words, the IFP lost “95% of the world’s registered players” in a single day. The only remaining “major” country was India, led by Sunil Valavalkar.

Ultimately, the decision was made to abandon the IFP’s former setup. By January 2023, Pat Murphy had been ousted. The remaining nations reformed the group under the banner of the International Pickleball Federation.

What Happens Now?

It’s still too early to say what will happen to the IPF. Things are looking good, but each development is something new! As this new sport strives to become a global phenomenon, we’re bound to see even more competition and support.

Right now, the PPA Tour is the “big” pickleball competition in America, but that may change! So, be sure to check in regularly to stay up to date on the latest pickleball news!