Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin, with Céline Géraud
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5:42 p.m., March 30, 2023
The French Tennis Federation is no exception to the rule. Like several other sports federations, the FFT is currently going through a turbulent period involving in particular its president Gilles Moretton. Special guest of the show Europe 1 Sports (every evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. live on Europe 1), the one who succeeded Bernard Giudicelli in February 2021 defended himself against his detractors.
Ten days ago, a complaint for embezzlement of public property and corruption targeting the instance was filed with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office. Even if “at this stage, the FFT has not received any complaint, any official information, or even any internal accusations of this type”, this announcement risks shaking the body which rules French tennis. The complaint, filed by several executives of the Federation, is being analyzed, said the PNF without giving more details.
Resale of tickets to Roland Garros?
This complaint would notably target a story of resale of Roland-Garros tickets between 2018 and 2020. Gilles Moretton rejected these accusations in Europe 1 Sports : “I gave the documents, I want total transparency. This same file had already been treated. There was a federal litigation commission, there was a federal justice commission” which had already shed light on this case. “We will follow. We will wait to see what happens and see what the prosecution will decide. We have answers to all these questions, but we will judge afterwards”, assured the president of the FFT.
This complaint, however, embarrasses Gilles Moretton since it comes a few weeks after the publication in the media of an investigation questioning the management methods and the financial management of the Federation since the election to its presidency in February 2021. According to a survey published by Mediapart, the Tennis Federation would face “an unprecedented social hemorrhage”, with in particular the “voluntary or forced departures of 112 employees out of 400”.
“Deplorable”
Faced with these accusations, the president of the FFT protests: “I find it deplorable”, he exclaimed at the microphone of Céline Géraud. “These are attacks that are destructive for the French Tennis Federation,” he continued. With regard to the resigning employees, Gilles Moretton evokes people who “left the federation for the benefit of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or the 2023 Rugby World Cup” which will take place in France.
The former tennis teacher also points the finger at his detractors who, for some, had done everything to prevent him from taking the helm of the French Tennis Federation. During the 2021 elections, the 65-year-old assures that “we wanted to change the statutes and regulations of the federation” so that he could not run: “With license stories, we wanted to change the regulations for me, especially for me.” The latter, however, wanted to highlight the good results in financial terms. Gilles Moretton assures him, he will continue to work for French tennis despite the attacks he suffers on a daily basis, even if his work is obstructed. “When I am attacked like that, all French leaders are attacked and I find that it is detrimental,” he concluded.