The time has come for the last hits of the rackets in the Bercy cauldron. After thirty-eight years in the emblematic 12my district of the capital, the Paris Masters 1000 will be installed in the fall of 2025 at the Paris La Défense Arena, in Nanterre, the largest concert hall in Europe and, therefore, more in line with the standards of this category of tournaments , just below the Grand Golpes.
But this week, in the bays, another “party” absorbs the elected officials and volunteers of the French Tennis Federation (FFT): the election of its president. Club presidents count for half of the votes and league and committee leaders count for the second. Voting began in September and will end during the elective general meeting on December 14.
Elected for the first time in 2021, Gilles Moretton (66 years old) is a candidate to succeed him at the head of the richest federation in France (490 million euros in turnover in 2024). He opposes Germain Roesch, who has directed the powerful Ile-de-France league for four years, the largest in terms of number of licensees and votes.
The current vice president of the FFT in charge of social responsibility was among Gilles Moretton’s supporters during the previous campaign. The former player (65my world in 1981) then embodied the change that had to definitively turn the page on Bernard Giudicelli, after four years of a mandate similar to a “hyper-presidency.”
This is precisely the same grievance that Germain Roesch makes today against Gilles Moretton, which he denounces “omnipotence, autocracy itself”. “You can join someone and discover the person later…, “says the 65-year-old outsider to justify this change. I have issues with both the person and the way the program was implemented. » The former double track cycling champion of Alsace, who became infected with tennis when registering his two children, defends “participatory governance, where everyone can give their opinion without fear and that allows contradiction.”
Moretton surprised by this candidacy
The direction of Bercy’s exit from the tournament convinced him to throw himself into the battle: he has been officially a candidate since June 19. According to Germain Roesch, the decision to migrate to the northwest of the capital was made by “two employees and the president”without consulting elected officials or club presidents. False, answers Gilles Moretton. “There was a process to say: we are launching the study, all the technical teams of the federation did it and not just Moretton,” It angers the president, convinced that Bercy was definitely crowded.
You have 55.47% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
