Roland-Garros 1984. Gilles Moretton puts away the rackets overnight, at 26, after losing too many, in doubles. “I’m pretty excessive. I was a decent average player, I felt that I had explored my possibilities ”, fits the old 65e world player in singles, who has never gone beyond the knockout stages at Porte d’Auteuil. Thirty-six years later, the Lyonnais covets the presidency of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), from which he hopes to dislodge Bernard Giudicelli, candidate for his own succession.
The election, initially scheduled for December 12, has been postponed to February 13, 2021, pandemic requires. A bit like the great American voters, it is not the clubs that vote but 199 delegates, from departmental committees and leagues. Mr. Moretton, the only opponent of the elected Corsican, castigates this “Between oneself”. “The objective is to give the clubs a voice”, he repeats, defending himself from a demagogic speech: “I come from the club, from the field”, pleads the president of the Auvergne-Rhones-Alpes (ARA) league since 2018, and licensed in Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost, in Ain.
Since announcing his candidacy on January 9, the ex-finalist of the 1982 Davis Cup has been proud to have gone to meet more than 2,300 clubs out of the 7,800 in the territory. The first step he will take, if elected, will be to give them the right to vote to elect the president, and to establish a consultation. “At least three times a year on strong themes”.
Of the fourteen presidents that the FFT has known since 1920, only three were former players: René Lacoste, Marcel Bernard and Philippe Chatrier. He hopes to be the fourth. “I haven’t been in sports politics for thirty years like the current president. I have never been the support of anyone ”, claims Mr. Moretton, who is careful not to name his rival.
Even though Mr. Giudicelli asserts that he does not know his ten day elder (they were born in February 1958), that does not prevent him from going with his judgment: “I see him functioning as a league president and I’m not sure he ticks all the boxes, especially the rally. He is a candidate, I present a project », he said on RMC Sport at the beginning of July.
Support from six leagues
The two men have been at war since Bernard Giudicelli accused, in March 2017, Gilles Moretton, then campaigning for the presidency of the ARA tennis league, of “Be one of those players who, in 2011, nurtured the network of concierges who bought tickets [pour Roland-Garros] and resold them ten times the price ”. Mr. Moretton sued him for defamation, Mr. Giudicelli was ordered to pay him a fine of 10,000 euros.
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