The general director of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), Caroline Flaissier, was “layoff” recently and is expected to leave his position less than a month after the revelation of a letter from employees denouncing their working conditions, we learned on Thursday February 22 from a spokesperson for the FFT.
Arrival in May 2022 to replace the current Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Mme Flaissier comes from the business world and “led an in-depth transformation of the federation”specified a source close to the FFT. “There is nothing else to see there than normal business life. It’s a new cycle that’s opening.”added this source, without specifying the reasons for this surprising departure.
This jolt comes less than a month later the revelation by RMC Sport, on 1er February, a letter signed by around a hundred employees – which Agence France-Presse has since obtained – addressed to President Gilles Moretton and to the elected representatives of the FFT, evoking in particular a situation “alarming” to the federation. In this letter, on which the names of the signatories do not appear, a request is made “upon all of our leaders to put in place the necessary and appropriate measures to put an end to these situations, as well as the climate of terror around those who dare to oppose them.”
Questioned by AFP, the FFT assured at the beginning of February that it was “determined to act by taking all measures to ensure a peaceful working environment for each of its employees”.
The FFT shaken by numerous turbulences
“We decided to call on an external firm to carry out a diagnosis of the quality of life at work within the FFT”, she had clarified. For almost a year and a half, the FFT has been going through a lot of turbulence. An investigation targeting the FFT and Mr. Moretton was opened by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) in July 2023 on suspicion of embezzlement concerning the Roland-Garros ticketing.
Gilles Moretton, elected in February 2021, is also the target of an investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office for perjury. He is suspected of having given false testimony before a parliamentary commission of inquiry.