New ITF Board of Directors elected at ITF Centenary AGM

Paris – France, July 12, 2013: The ITF announced that the new ITF Board of Directors for the period 2013-15 has been elected at the 2013 ITF Annual General Meeting in Paris, France on Friday 12 July.

Over 300 delegates, partners and staff attended the ITF Centenary AGM, held at L’Hotel du Collectionneur Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and hosted by the French Tennis Federation (FFT) under its President Jean Gachassin. The ITF was founded in Paris on 1 March 1913.

The following 13 candidates have been elected to the ITF Board of Directors. The President of the ITF is elected for a four-year term, with the current term ending at the 2015 ITF AGM, so there was no presidential election this year.

Tarak Cherif (TUN)

Sergio Elias (CHI)

Jean Gachassin (FRA) *

Jack Graham (CAN) *

David Haggerty (USA)

Stephen Healy (AUS)

Anil Khanna (IND)

Juan Margets (ESP) *

Roman Murashkovsky (RUS) *

Stuart Smith (GBR) *

Rene Stammbach (SUI) *

Jon Vegosen (USA) *

Georg von Waldenfels (GER) *

* returning member

The AGM was officially opened by 2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli of France, who welcomed the delegates to the city, and stressed how important the national federations were to all players, playing a vital part in their development and sharing the same spirit and love of tennis.

Changes to membership of the ITF include a transfer from Class C to Class B membership for Mongolia and Mozambique, while four Class B members, Cameroon, Ghana, Honduras and Zambia, have been suspended.

There were eight Awards for Services to the Game approved by the AGM. These include two awards in the player category for Chris Lewis (NZL) and Max Mirnyi (BLR), alongside Brian Hainline (USA), Paul Hutchins (GBR), William McComb (ISV), Igor Shepelev (UZB), Jean Paul Van Ussel (BEL) and Jim Loehr (USA), who was nominated by the Coaches Commission.

David Jude (GBR), who has been ITF Honorary Treasurer since 1977, has stepped down from his position after 36 years and been made an ITF Honorary Life Counsellor. The AGM has voted to eliminate the position of ITF Honorary Treasurer with immediate effect.

Two other retiring Board members, Geoff Pollard (AUS) and Lucy Garvin (USA), have been made an ITF Honorary Life Vice President and Honorary Life Counsellor respectively,

“This has been an outstanding General Meeting, hosted by the French Tennis Federation and its President Jean Gachassin,” said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. “We are delighted to be back in Paris, where the ITF was founded in 1913, on this special occasion honouring our centenary. I thank all the delegates who came to Paris for their hard work all year in support of tennis. They have elected an excellent new Board of Directors, and I look forward to working with them over the next two years. Our sincere thanks to the staff at the French Tennis Federation for their hospitality and friendship.”

During the AGM, functions for delegates were hosted by the ITF, FFT, Lawn Tennis Association, and Davis Cup and Fed Cup champions Czech Republic, as well as a full partners programme organised by the ITF and FFT. The functions included a gala dinner at the Palace of Versailles on Thursday night.

Salah Tahlak of the United Arab Emirates Tennis Federation informed the delegates that the 2014 ITF Annual General Meeting would be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 16-18 September 2014. —- ITTF