Ivo Kaderka (pictured) has been elected as the new President of the European Tennis Federation at the 46th Annual General Meeting of the organisation.
In the final round of voting, Mr. Kaderka of the Czech Republic won the endorsement of the assembly over Germany’s Eva Maria Schneider by 45 votes to 39. In the previous round, the ballot produced an unprecedented tie, with the Board of Management colleagues securing 41 votes apiece. The third candidate, Matti Virtanen of Finland, was eliminated in the opening round of votes.
Reacting to the news, Mr. Kaderka paid tribute to his rivals, and told the assembly; “I would like to thank everyone who voted for me, and even those who did not. My goal is to unite European tennis. I believe that there are no big or small nations, just the European tennis family. I promise you that I will do my absolute best for all of you.”
Five current Board members were re-elected to serve another term and are joined by three new members. With four male and four female members, Tennis Europe strengthens its position as the world's leading Regional Association in terms of gender representation.
Tennis Europe Board of Management 2020-2023
Nikolina Babic (CRO)
Luisanna Fodde (ITA)*
Razvan Itu (ROU)
Christiane Jolissaint (SUI)*
David Rawlinson (GBR)*
Eva-Maria Schneider (GER)*
Spyros Zannias (GRE)
Evgeniy Zukin (UKR)*
* = re-elected.
The hybrid meeting saw participation from a record 47 member nations, who were able to attend in person or join a live broadcast of the proceedings with a platform for remote voting.
Chaired by Luisanna Fodde in her capacity as Vice-President, the event was hosted by the Hellenic Tennis Federation at the Lyttos Beach Hotel near Heraklion.
Outgoing President Vladimir Dmitriev stepped down after serving one term at the helm of the organisation and was awarded the title of Honorary Life President.
Mr. Dmitriev said, “It has been an honour to spend the last three and a half years as President of Tennis Europe. I am immensely proud of the progress made by the organisation during my tenure, and it has been a joy to serve alongside such incredibly dedicated and active staff and the Board of Management. I’d like to congratulate Ivo for his successful campaign, and I know that I am leaving the organisation in safe hands.”
To view a photo gallery from the meeting, please click here.