Gilles Moretton, the president of the French Tennis Federation, attends the draw for the French Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, May 25, 2023. THIBAULT CAMUS / AP
It’s a hearing that could cause a lot of discussion. The president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), Gilles Moretton, was heard on Friday October 27 by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the failings of sports federations. And the statements, under oath, of the 65-year-old leader are likely to land him in trouble on the criminal level.
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Member of Parliament (Renaissance) for Vendée and vice-president of the said commission, Stéphane Buchou asked the angry question during Mr. Moretton’s hearing. The elected official noted that the latter had been ” pin ” by the media due to the “remuneration” of his former chief of staff, Hughes Cavallin, who was one of his “supports” during his election, in February 2021, at the head of the federation.
Mr. Buchou was thus alluding to the suspicions which led to Mr. Moretton and other federal executives being targeted, in March and April, by a criminal complaint from elected officials of the FFT for « corruption » et “misappropriation of public property” and a report from the anti-corruption association Anticor, particularly in relation to the Roland-Garros ticket office.
” The subject is closed “
In the National Assembly, Mr. Moretton, « document » in hand, then read to the commission of inquiry “the decision to classify without further action” of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). “The criminal offenses denounced such as embezzlement, illegal taking of interests and corruption do not appear to be characterized”declared the president of the FFT.
” The subject is closedhe continued. He will perhaps come back because in matters of politics, you know, these are practices that exist since we are going to be in an electoral period [en décembre 2024]. This is the decision of the PNF. No comments to make on this. » “Thank you, we had in mind the classification without further action by the PNF. That’s why we didn’t necessarily come back to it”continued the commission’s rapporteur, Sabrina Sebaihi (Hauts-de-Seine, environmentalists).
Except that, as noted Mediapart, Mr Moretton came to terms with the facts in his response to Mr Buchou. Because the subject is not really closed on a judicial level. If the PNF filed the complaint against the management of the FFT in June, the general public prosecutor’s office of the Paris Court of Appeal decided on July 24, as revealed The world et Mediapartafter re-examining the file, “give instructions to the PNF with a view to opening a preliminary investigation”.
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This unprecedented decision came after a request filed with the public prosecutor’s office, on June 30, by Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi, the plaintiffs’ lawyer – who died on October 12 (at the age of 83) –, under article 40 -3 of the criminal procedure code. In his request, Me Versini-Campinchi contested the dismissal and denounced the “factual and material errors committed by the PNF having led it to an improper analysis of the facts denounced”. A preliminary investigation was therefore opened immediately by the PNF.
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2023-10-30 00:41:26
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