The Davis Cup It is one of the most traditional international competitions in world sport. It began to be disputed in the year 1900with a showdown between the United States and players from the British Isles, and continues to this day with very few interruptions in between due to circumstances such as World War II or the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, in the long journey of the centenary it underwent many changes of form and one of the most brilliant was that which occurred in the edition of 2019when the Kosmos Group, a business group headed by the Spanish footballer Gerard Piquesigned a 25-year contract with the International Tennis Federation to undertake the organization of the tournament. Well, that contract only lasted three releases, because Kosmos’ relationship with the ITF has just been terminated.

The International Tennis Federation issued the following statement: pic.twitter.com/Q1uSUCTV5g

—ITF Media (@ITFMedia) January 12, 2023

Why are Cosmos and Pique walking away from Davis Cup?

With its announcement, the Federation states: “The ITF confirms that its Davis Cup partnership with Kosmos Tennis has ended. The ITF took care of it there are financial contingencies and, as custodian of the competition, will stage the Qualifiers and Finals of the 2023 edition as scheduled, with the Final 8 taking place in Malaga, Spain in November this year.”

“The ITF brokered a strong deal for tennis in 2018. The partnership increased participation, prize money and interest in the Davis Cup and generated funding to support the sport’s global growth. It also focused on delivering another spectacular edition of the Men’s Tennis Championships Cup, we are focused on the future development of the sport’s largest annual international team competition.” adds the statement presented by the ITF to confirm the break.

More | Davis Cup 2023: results, players, teams, format, schedule and more

According to 2Playbook, this break is due to a economic discord among the Worldwhich intended to renegotiate its agreement with the ITF to pay less than about $40 million annually since with these numbers it could not turn a profit despite the increases it had in revenue, and the Federationwhich refused to go below that figure.

The world will continue to be connected to tennis: the agency represents tennis players Dominic Thiem, Daria Kasatkina, Borna Coric, Andrey Rublev and the newly integrated Elina Svitolinafigures of the world circuit, among others.

What will happen to the Davis Cup?

Apart from the fact that the 2023 edition will go ahead as originally agreed, starting in a few weeks, It is not known what the future of the competition will bewhether it will continue to be organized by the ITF, whether they will seek an agreement with another business group; If you plan to go back to the old format or if the Kosmos tax with neutral spaces will be retainedwith much criticism in the tennis environment since it was implemented.