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Annual General Meeting in Lausanne

Annual General Meeting in Lausanne

The 41st Annual General Meeting of Tennis Europe was hosted by Swiss Tennis in the Olympic Capital, Lausanne, from 26-29 March.

98 delegates from 38 of Tennis Europe’s member nations were in attendance at the event, which was also the scene of a Board of Management meeting and an Administration & Management Workshop for delegates representing nations that benefit from the ITF/Tennis Europe Development Programme.

The opening afternoon was dedicated to International Tennis Federation matters and began with President Francesco Ricci Bitti addressing the gathering of his organisation’s largest association with the annual ITF Update. Executive Vice-President Juan Margets followed with an overview of Davis & Fed Cup matters before the Executive Director of Professional Tennis Kris Dent gave the delegates the latest information concerning the forthcoming restructure of the ITF Pro Circuits.

Saturday’s plenary session saw annual reports from Tennis Europe’s President Jacques Dupré and Chief Executive Officer Olli Mäenpää, as well as those of the Chairpersons of the four committees, Luisanna Fodde (Development), Karin van Bijsterveld (Junior Tennis), Igor del Busto (Professional Tennis) and Attila Richter (Senior Tennis), and the Honorary Treasurer, Martin Corrie.

Two important constitutional changes were approved by secret ballot at the Meeting, and will take effect from 1st January, 2016. Delegates voted overwhelmingly in favour of an application by Switzerland to increase their membership status, meaning that the reigning Davis Cup champions will join the list of 9 existing ‘A’ nations.

Kosovo successfully applied to become the 50th member of Tennis Europe. Tennis therefore joins the growing list of sports to formally approve Kosovo’s membership following last December’s decision of the International Olympic Committee to grant full recognition to the Kosovo Olympic Committee, in accordance with Rule 3.7 of the Olympic Charter.

The hosts organised a wide range of activities for guests and partners, including visits to Gruyère and the Olympic Museum, a dinner cruise on Lake Geneva, and a closing dinner at the famous Hotel Beau-Rivage.

The dinner was once again the venue for the presentation of Tennis Europe’s annual awards for outstanding contributions to the game. These were given to Gevork Karamanoukian (ARM), Vladimir Voltchkov (BLR), Jukka Roiha (FIN), Patrice Hagelauer (FRA), Jean Claude Massias (FRA), Michael Turner (GBR), Vasile Dobinda (MDA), Henk van Hulst (NED), Tomasz Wiktorowski (POL), Mikhail Novik (RUS) and Erik Keller (SUI). The title of Honorary Life Counsellor was awarded to former Vice-President Ayda Uluç (TUR), and 2014 European Tennis Trophy awards were presented and given to winners Netherlands (Wheelchair Tennis), Russia (Junior Tennis), Czech Republic (Professional Tennis) and Germany (Senior Tennis and Overall Performance). Special recognitions were also given to Hungary (Best-Performing ‘C’ Nation), Switzerland (Best-Performing ‘B’ Nation) and Estonia (Greatest Improvement).

Tennis Europe President Jacques Dupré said, “This has been a busy and well-attended meeting with a wide-ranging agenda that included a number of important constitutional matters. I’d like to thank our partners and colleagues from the International Tennis Federation for their attendance, in particular Mr. Ricci Bitti, to whom we wish all the best as he completes his final term as President. I would also like to express my gratitude to René Stammbach and his team at Swiss Tennis for the excellent organisation. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be able to hold our meeting in such an illustrious location as the Olympic Museum, and their hospitality has been most appreciated by all of the delegates.”

Closing the meeting, the President confirmed that the next AGM will be hosted by the Moldovan Tennis Federation in Chisinau in March 2016. 

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