At the head of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) since 2021, Gilles Moretton, 66, was re-elected on Saturday December 14 as president. He collected 61.19% of the votes against Germain Roesch, the boss of the Ile-de-France league, who was until now the vice-president of the FFT, and who was among Mr. Moretton’s supporters during of the previous election.
The ballot which ended on Saturday granted for the first time 50% of the votes to the presidents of the approximately 7,000 clubs affiliated with the FFT, the other half of the votes going to the delegates of the departmental committees and regional leagues of the federation.
Mr. Moretton is the first president since Jean Gachassin (2009-2017) to be re-elected at the head of the country’s second sports federation, which has more than 1.1 million members.
Criticized in recent months for his management style, considered harsh by certain members of the federation, Mr. Moretton declared a few days ago « [penser] that everything has calmed down »almost three months after the launch of a plan entitled “Fair Play” to try to improve the social climate in the federation. “We heard the recommendations” an external audit carried out at the FFT, “we responded, we put them in place”he assured.
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In addition to the internal social climate, Mr. Moretton will have to manage from 2025 the relocation of the Paris Masters 1000 from the east of the capital (Bercy), where it has been played since 1986, to La Défense Arena in Nanterre. A project dictated in part by the constraints of the ATP for tournaments of this caliber, but retained without having fairly examined the alternatives according to Mr. Roesch, who had made the“trigger” of his dissident campaign.
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On high-level matters, Mr. Moretton committed to appointing a full-time National Technical Director (DTN), a strategic position held on an interim basis since the end of July. The FFT organization chart should only know “small adjustments”the teams in place doing work ” outstanding “according to the president, who hopes to see French tennis win a singles medal at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028, after a disappointing Paris Games.
