Former Newcastle United footballer Hatem Ben Arfa is now a top-ranked padel player
Many professional footballers have developed a keen passion for padel. Players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luka Modric and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco have all invested in the sport and opened up padel clubs. Former Newcastle United cult hero Hatem Ben Arfa, however, has taken his passion to another level. According to padel referee Roland Mermillod, Ben Arfa plays practically every single day and is currently ranked as one of the best 1,500 padel players in France.
In 2023, Ben Arfa participated in 70 padel tournaments since he left his last club LOSC Lille the year before. The former French international and footballer of clubs such as PSG, OGC Nice and Olympique Marseille, has since grown from being ranked the 10,057th padel player to the 1,342nd one in France. In an interview with Le Parisien, referee Roland Mermillod said that Ben Arfa doesn’t do anything else besides playing padel.
It remains to be seen how much further the 37-year-old will take his passion for the sport, but it is clear he has talent and developed a good work ethic, something which he was criticised for during his football career. His former agent explained in an interview with RMC Sport why the footballer never lived up to his potential in his opinion. ‘’It’s a psychological thing from his childhood. He was king, king, king. He was always told what he deserved but never told to work. I was convinced that I had a player that, if we worked on his mind, would win the Ballon d’Or. He was so talented.’’
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