The game was far from won ... At the start of summer 2020 again, five months from the initial date of the election (December 12, postponed due to a pandemic), Bernard Giudicelli seemed to be heading for a second term.
This Saturday, however, in an American-style system where we know the winner before the final vote, the 199 “big voters” from the Leagues or Committees will choose Gilles Moretton for the next four years at a general meeting in videoconferencing.
With a stimulus plan of 35 million euros for the various players in tennis in order to respond to the health crisis and the maintenance against all odds of an edition of Roland-Garros at the end of September in a brand new setting, the he omnipotent Corsican leader seemed to have the hand to ensure his renewal until the Olympic Games in Paris.
Despite an image of isolated despot and especially gravedigger of the Davis Cup who will find a place of choice in his balance sheet.
“His two biggest faults were his poor communication and his total lack of humility, slips one of the relatives of the outgoing team.
He also started his campaign too late
(Editor's note: six months after his rival)
and underestimated Moretton.
He quietly started the ascent of the pass with his head in the handlebars without seeing that someone was passing him… ”
A fine strategist
His opponent from Lyon, he put the means.
Taking the bet of door to door and plowing the ground (metropolitan or overseas) up and down or online to preach his good word: rally, project based on democracy and ethics, reform of the governance, the power given to the club, training rather than ultra-selection or the notion of pleasure to rediscover, etc.
More than 2,000 clubs (out of the 7,800) were visited in this way.
“I went wherever they wanted me to,” smiles the former business manager and president of the ASVEL basketball club.
As a strategist, in a mode of election where all the votes do not weigh the same weight, the former world No. 65 has nevertheless abandoned the tournaments lost in advance (in the western or northern areas) to go and win the big matches (Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie, Grand-Est, PACA with Arnaud Clément).
Beyond a debate of ideas, the election turned into a man-to-man fight between two protagonists who have not spoken to each other for four years.
The day when, during a public meeting in Chambon-sur-Lignon (Haute-Loire), Giudicelli had affirmed that Moretton was part of a group of former players who sold invitations under the polo shirt and at a gold price. of Roland-Garros.
Small sentence, big consequences.
Sentenced for defamation by the French courts, the president of the FFT had in fact had to give up his functions within the International Federation (ITF) for a while, dragging this case like a ball.
The seesaw at the Paris Committee
And his successor drew additional motivation.
"This election, Moretton won at Chambon-sur-Lignon ...", slips a federal executive.
Over the months, in his quest to reconstitute the "family", the ex-n ° 65 at ATP has united around him as much as against his opponent, who has seen a series of defections.
The advocates of change are also disappointed or failed in the old regime (François Jauffret, ex-president of Ile-de-France, or Eric Deblicker, who went from special adviser to Giudicelli to influential figure of the Moretton clan).
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In a deleterious atmosphere, where the ex-president of ASVEL, known to be litigator, has occupied the field of ethics or litigation committees, the switch took place at the beginning of September.
Hughes Cavallin, treasurer general of the FFT and n ° 2 of Giudicelli, announced his withdrawal from the campaign.
At the same time, the Paris Committee, the largest department in France that it led for eleven years and where it remains very present, overwhelmingly (81%) chose Moretton.
On this dynamic, the gain of Ile-de-France (which represents 25% of the vote) in mid-December sealed the victory of EPAT (Ensemble pour un Autre Tennis) on “Agir et Gagner”.
“Cavallin was the X factor, we whisper in the entourage of the beaten, comparing the last months to a political thriller.
Otherwise, projections show that Moretton would have lost around 52/48… ”
On arrival, once the 9,252 votes have been distributed, the creator of the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon will win with around 60% of the vote, becoming the 14th president of the FFT.
His future predecessor, he will be the first for 48 years (after 20 years of Chatrier, 16 of Bîmes and 8 of Gachassin) not to serve a second term ...