ピックルボールを世界で束ねる国際統括団体、Global Pickleball Federation(GPF)が、組織として初めての最高コンプライアンス責任者(Chief Compliance Officer、CCO)を新設した。2026年8月7日にPickleball News Asiaが伝えたもので、就任するのは米国の現役弁護士でGPF理事のチャンドラー・カーニー(Chandler Carney)氏。オリンピック競技化という長期目標に向けて、統治(ガバナンス)の仕組みを固める一手だ。
Carney, an attorney, a Chile international and a GPF director, becomes the first compliance chief
カーニー氏は米国で弁護士として活動する法律家であり、同時にプレーヤーとしての経歴も持つ。報道によれば、2023年から2025年にかけてチリのピックルボール代表チームに3度選出されている。米国籍の弁護士が、母国ではなく南米チリの代表としてコートに立ってきた点は、この人物の活動範囲の広さを示している。英語とスペイン語のバイリンガルで、当時はポルトガル語も習得中とされ、南米でのピックルボール普及に関わってきた。
He is no newcomer inside GPF either. In his second term as a director and chair of the Legal Committee, he slides straight into the role of first CCO. He holds a J.D. from Indiana University McKinney School of Law and a bachelor's degree from the University of West Florida, and has been published in the Fordham International Law Journal. Knowing both the law and the competitive side reads as the reason for the appointment.
Another detail not to miss is the design that puts the CCO on GPF's Executive Committee as a non-voting member. The position rests on Articles 7.1 and 8.6 of GPF's 2026 bylaws, and holding no vote gives the role the character of an independent watchdog standing one step back from management decisions. A structure in which the compliance officer takes no part in votes can be read as a device for keeping neutrality in a job that checks one's own colleagues.
反ドーピング調整とIOC承認手続き支援が新職の中身
The CCO's job is not simply managing internal rules. The scope Pickleball News Asia listed is wide: bylaw and legal compliance, ethics and conflict-of-interest management, integrity, anti-doping coordination, investigations and training, and support for member nations working through the procedures needed for IOC recognition.
特に国際競技化を狙う団体にとって重い意味を持つのが、反ドーピングとIOC承認手続きの二つだ。オリンピック入りを目指す競技団体は、世界アンチ・ドーピング機構(WADA)の基準に沿った検査体制を整えることが前提になる。加えてCCOは、加盟国がAIMS(IOC非加盟競技団体の連合体)および「スポーツアコード」(国際競技連盟が集う組織)の申請要件を進めるのを支援する。いずれもIOCへの承認申請に至る前段のステップであり、こうした手続きを一人ひとりの加盟国任せにせず、本部の専任役員が横串でさばく体制を作ったことになる。
GPF, with 52 nations and four continental federations, entered the IOC recognition process in June 2025
What kind of body is GPF in the first place? Launched in November 2023, it is a relatively new international governing body that ties 52 member nations together under four continental federations and says it represents about 95% of registered pickleball players worldwide. It handles unified rules and the running of international events, and its ultimate aim is recognition by the IOC as pickleball's international federation and a place on the Olympic and Paralympic program.
Progress has been steady. In June 2025, through meetings in Lausanne, Switzerland, it formally entered the procedures toward IOC recognition. In parallel, the crowded field of international bodies is being pulled together: in November 2025 GPF set up a joint task force with a separate organization, the United World Pickleball Federation (UWPF), aimed at a merger. Read as part of that drive to build a single trusted international body, the new CCO post falls into place.
| Item | Confirmed details |
|---|---|
| Organization Name | Global Pickleball Federation(GPF) |
| Launch | November 2023 |
| Composition | 4 continental federations / 52 member nations |
| Representation | About 95% of registered pickleball players worldwide |
| Entered the IOC recognition process | June 2025 (Lausanne) |
| New post | Chief Compliance Officer (CCO, non-voting) |
Los Angeles 2028 is out, and the realistic target is Brisbane 2032 or later
Behind the rush to build a governance structure is the Olympic timetable. Pickleball is not currently an IOC-recognized sport, and it is not on the list of additional sports for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Those slots are already set, and there will be no pickleball at that edition.
そのため実務上の標的は、早くても2032年ブリスベン大会、より現実的には2036年以降と見られている。IOC入りの条件としては、女性を含む幅広い競技人口の実証、WADA準拠の反ドーピング体制、そして「米国の中高年の娯楽」という見られ方を超える国際的な広がりの証明が挙げられる。今回のCCO新設は、このうち組織の規律と反ドーピングという、点数の付けにくい定性的な条件に先回りして手を打った動きと読める。競技人口や大会数のような目に見える数字だけでなく、統治の質を審査する側に示せる形で整えておく――そこに専任役員を置いた狙いがある。
A governance-first pattern that mirrors Japan's own push for a unified body
An international body settling governance first mirrors what is happening inside Japan. In April 2026, JPA and PJF merged andthe new Pickleball Japan launched as a unified domestic body with the 2032 Brisbane Olympics in view. Then in June of the same year,the Japanese federation won approval from JSPO (Japan Sport Association) and set foot on the first step of a long staircase toward the Olympics. Pulling scattered bodies into one and stacking up official recognitions is the same order of operations at home and abroad.
Sponsorship is moving in step as well. In Japan,Sansan became the federation's top-tier sponsor, backing everything from grassroots growth to elite development under an Olympic banner. For a federation gathering money and people, transparent and trustworthy governance is a precondition. The international headquarters installing a compliance chief with a legal background is also a message to national federations that it intends to build an organization that can withstand scrutiny. For players and organizers in Japan, it is a clue to which procedures the international body treats as important.
A national-team player who also handles organizational discipline as a lawyer: Carney's two faces capture the stage pickleball is in as it moves from an extension of play to an international sport. The Olympics remain a distant destination, but from outside the court GPF has begun assembling a frame strong enough for the journey.
Sources
- Pickleball News Asia, “Pickleball’s Olympic Ambitions Just Got a New Guardian as GPF Names Chief Compliance Officer” (August 7, 2026)
- Global Pickleball Federation official site
- GPF「GPF and UWPF Announce Joint Initiative to Establish a Single International Governing Body for Pickleball」
- Forbes「Pickleball Olympic Dreams Given Boost With Merger Plans Of Dueling International Federations」
