Vladimir Dmitriev (pictured) has been elected as the first ever Russian President of the European Tennis Federation at the 43rd Annual General Meeting of the organisation.
In the final round of voting, Mr. Dmitriev won the endorsement of the assembly over Finland’s Matti Virtanen by 41 votes to 32. Previous rounds had earlier eliminated two other candidates; Luisanna Fodde (ITA) and Predrag Stojcevic (CRO).
The Meeting was held in Sochi from 23-25 March, and was attended by 89 delegates representing 39 member nations of the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) largest regional association. Hosted by the Russian Tennis Federation, the conference also saw elections to the Board of Management, who will serve under the leadership of Mr. Dimitriev until 2020.
The new Board of Management is as follows:
Luisanna Fodde (ITA)*
Allar Hint (EST)
Christiane Jolissaint (SUI)
Ivo Kaderka (CZE)
David Rawlinson (GBR)
Attila Richter (HUN)*
Eva-Maria Schneider (GER)
Evgeniy Zukin (UKR)
Olli Mäenpää (Chief Executive Officer)
* = re-elected.
Reacting to the news, Mr. Dmitriev paid tribute to the work of his predecessor, and thanked the assembly for its support. “I am proud to be welcomed into the tennis family,” he said. “I promise to serve European tennis with the same commitment, passion and success that I have applied to all other aspects of my professional life.”
Outgoing President Jacques Dupré stepped down after serving three consecutive terms at the helm of the organisation and was awarded the title of Honorary Life President at a gala dinner held at the Hotel Rus and compered by Alexander Belov and 2004 Roland Garros champion Anastasia Myskina.
Mr. Dupré said, “It has been an honour to spend the last nine years as President of Tennis Europe, and I am happy to be leaving the organisation in a healthy situation despite some recent challenges. I’d like to thank our hosts the Russian Tennis Federation for the warm hospitality, and to congratulate Mr. Dmitriev and the new Board members on their election wins. I wish them all the best for the future and much success in their new roles.”
Three other retiring Board members were also recognised – Günther Lang (GER) and Stefan Tzvetkov (BUL) as Honorary Life Counsellors, and Aleksei Selivanenko (RUS) as Honorary Life Vice President.
Chief Executive Officer Olli Mäenpää welcomed the results on behalf of the member nations, and stated, “We are looking forward to begin working with Mr. Dmitriev and the new Board and to push forward the business and sport of tennis in Europe. The newly elected Board is an excellent representation of the diversity of our member nations and I am sure that we will continue to prosper and grow.”
Also at the Meeting, Tennis Europe Awards were distributed in recognition of long and outstanding contributions to the sport and its administration. There were 12 recipients in total; Roza Prudnikova (ARM), Samuil Kagan (BLR), Krasen Kralev (BUL), Srdjan Matijasevic (CRO), Günther Lang (GER), Éva Szabó (HUN), Shkelzen Domi (KOS), Victor Zubcu (MDA), Karin van Bijsterveld (NED), Cees Varossieau (NED), Andrei Bokarev (RUS) and Svitlana Medvedeva (UKR).
The Meeting was opened by RTF President Shamil Tarpischev alongside the Mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov, and former world #1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who addressed the delegates on behalf of the host nation. Other key speakers included ITF President David Haggerty and Chief Operating Officer Kelly Fairweather, who updated the assembly on matters including the proposed reforms to international team competitions and the player pathway.
Tennis Europe confirmed during the meeting that next year’s AGM will be hosted by the Hungarian Tennis Association in Budapest.