The presidency of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), requested by its ethics committee, proposed to withdraw the choice of players selected for the France team from the captain of the Blues Sébastien Grosjean, to avoid possible conflicts of interest, according to a statement released on Monday. “After comparing Mr. Grosjean’s duties as captain with his interests resulting from various outside activities (…), the Committee concluded that certain situations of interference constituting conflicts of interest existed”, wrote the FFT in this release.
Apart from his cap as captain of the French men’s team, Sébastien Grosjean is also director of the Open Sud de France tournament and consultant for the beIn Sport television channel. But he is also co-founder and shareholder of Tennium, a tournament organizing agency and representative of players, in particular Richard Gasquet, who is also a shareholder of Tennium, and Arthur Fils.
It is this last function which could mainly influence the selection process for the Davis Cup and for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, according to the ethics committee. “The committee is of the opinion that the restrictions contractually provided for, no more than the reputation of Mr. Grosjean, are not enough to eliminate the conflicts of interest identified”, according to the press release from the FFT. Among several options to “neutralize these conflicts of interest”, the FFT, requested by the committee, therefore suggested removing Grosjean from the “player selection process” so that the choice of players is “made after consultation with the director national technical and the director of the high level of the FFT”, respectively Nicolas Escudé and Paul-Henri Mathieu.
