How do invites and guest slots work in a Padelio match?

App players vs guests

When you fill a slot, the picker gives you two modes:

• App player — "Has a Padelio account". Search by name (type at least two characters). The person is tagged, gets an invite, and appears as Not confirmed until they accept.
• Guest — "Can claim their spot later". Type a name and add it. No account needed, and the slot counts as confirmed immediately.

Use guests freely. A guest slot isn't a dead end — it's a placeholder that the right person can attach their account to later.

One account can only appear once per match. If you try to add the same person twice you'll see "A player can only be added once."

What happens when you tag an app player

They get a Match invite notification — push and in-app, respecting their notification preferences — and the match appears in their Invites list alongside crew, community, and league invites.

Until they respond, they show as Not confirmed in the lineup, and the match shows Confirm you played in their own match list.

Accepting or declining sends you, the owner, a notification either way.

Accepting or declining an invite

Neither action works on a cancelled match — you'll get "This match was cancelled."

What declining actually does

Declining doesn't tear a hole in the lineup. Your account is detached, but your name stays on the slot as a guest. The match keeps its shape, the score still works, and the slot becomes an open guest slot that anyone — including you later — can claim.

Claiming a guest slot

If you open a match and see your name sitting in a guest slot, tap This is me next to it. That sends the match owner a claim request.

The owner sees a Pending claims block on the match with Approve and Reject for each one. Approving attaches your account to that slot and automatically rejects any competing claims for the same slot.

Once approved, that match — and every other match where you've claimed a slot — counts toward your casual stats retroactively.

Three rules worth knowing:

• You can't claim a slot that already has an account attached ("This slot is already claimed.").
• You can't claim if you're already a player in that match.
• You can have only one pending claim per match at a time.

Changing the lineup later

This is the part that trips people up, so it's worth being precise.

Only the match owner can change the lineup. Anyone tagged in the match can enter and finish the score, but they can't swap players in or out. Those are two different permissions.

On web, the lineup is set at creation. The Edit match dialog covers title, location, court, date, and time only. To change who played, use the mobile app.

On mobile, the owner edits the lineup from the match's Players tab — switch between singles and doubles, remove a player from a slot, re-pick anyone, then Save changes. The button stays disabled until every slot is filled.

The lineup locks once scoring starts. After anyone saves a score, changes are rejected with "Players can only be changed before scoring starts." Approving a guest claim is the only lineup change that still works from then on.

One thing to be aware of: saving the Players tab rewrites the whole lineup. Newly added app players get an invite, but anyone you drop is removed silently — they aren't notified and no trace is left on the match.

Where to go next

• Setting up the match in the first place: matches/create.
• Entering sets and finishing: matches/scores-and-results.
• What confirming actually unlocks: matches/stats-and-history.

FAQ

I was added to a match but I don't see an invite

Update the Padelio app. Match invites are only sent to app versions that know about them, so an out-of-date mobile build shows nothing in Invites. The web app is unaffected — open app.padelio.org and the invite will be there.

What happens if I decline?

Your account is detached from the match, but your name stays on the slot as a guest. The match keeps its shape, the score still works, and the slot becomes open for anyone to claim. The match won't count toward your stats.

My friend isn't on Padelio yet — will they lose these matches?

No. Add them as a guest now. When they sign up they can open the match, tap This is me, and once you approve the claim all their past matches count toward their stats retroactively.

Can I remove someone after we've started scoring?

No. Once anyone saves a score the lineup is locked with the message "Players can only be changed before scoring starts." Approving a guest claim is the only lineup change that still works after that.

Do I have to accept before I can enter the score?

No. Anyone tagged in the match can enter and finish the score, whether or not they've accepted the invite. Accepting only confirms that you played, which is what makes the match count toward your stats.

See something off? Suggest a fix — emails support@padelio.org with the article and a prefilled subject.