France calls for revamp of Davis Cup format and economic model

The French Tennis Federation will not bid for rights to host the Davis Cup group stages in September this year

France fans before the match between France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic in 2019 Image Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

April 18, 2022

The French Tennis Federation has called for a revamp of the Davis Cup’s format and economic model, to make the century-old annual team competition more attractive.

“The FFT’s desire to promote and revitalize the Davis Cup is stronger than ever, FFT write in a statement when they decided not to submit to be a host country of the group stage in decemeber. In the interest of this competition and of tennis, the FFT wishes to contribute to the reflection on the sporting format of the competition and the evolution of its economic model to make it more attractive, within the framework of a governance that respects the values and spirit of the Davis Cup.”

The call comes in the wake of France’s attempt to host the Davis Cup group stages in September this year. Earlier this year, in mid-March, the FFT has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to recognise its right to bid for the host city for the Davis Cup group stages, which takes place from September 14 to 17, 2022.

“Onerous financial and operational conditions” (FFT)

Following their successful appeal, the FFT were included in the bidding process for hosting the group stages. However, upon receiving the details, including financial and operational guidelines, to host the event, the FFT dropped their bid to host the Davis Cup.

“The FFT has decided not to submit a bid in view of the onerous financial and operational conditions which no potential organizer in the French territory was willing to accept.”

France is among the 16 nations to have qualified for the group stage in December. It was recently announced that Malaga, Spain, which had earlier been given the group stage hosting rights for September, will now host the knock out stages in December.

A replacement for Malaga will be announced shortly.