Spanish tennis federation chief suspended amid cash probe

ByMaxwell Ward

Updated 24/06/2015 at 14:36 GMT

The Spanish government's disciplinary committee for sports (TAD) has suspended tennis federation (RFET) president Jose Luis Escanuela for one month for failing to collaborate in a probe into the organisation's finances.

Spain's sports council (CSD) says it is attempting to track down what happened to at least 700,000 euros that the federation paid out in transactions linked to the Spanish Tennis Foundation and the Spanish Tennis Observatory.

The Foundation was set up to help promote tennis in Spain, while the Observatory is a joint project with a university in Seville to study the sport.

Two officials from the CSD are due to go through the RFET's accounts and papers at their offices in Barcelona on Thursday following what the council called "a complete lack of collaboration" on requests for information.

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"The TAD suspends Jose Luis Escanuela, president of the RFET, from execution of his duties for one month," the council said on its Twitter feed on Wednesday.

Escanuela, who has refused to step down, and the CSD have also clashed over the RFET's appointment of Gala Leon as Spain's Davis Cup captain, a decision that was sharply criticised by the nation's top players like Rafa Nadal and Feliciano Lopez.

Leon, who had a career-high ranking of 27 as a player, was a surprise choice to replace Carlos Moya, who stood down after the five-times Davis Cup winners were relegated from the World Group following defeat against Brazil in a playoff.

Gala Leon

Image credit: SID

Her appointment in September sparked a debate about sexism which has rumbled on ever since, with accusations flying that the players are opposed to Leon because she is a woman.

It is unclear whether Nadal or any of Spain's other top-ranked players will commit to playing in next month's Group I second-round match at home to Russia, which reportedly clashes with Lopez's wedding.

"What I am really concluding from this situation is that I am an icon in many countries but just not our own," Leon was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Spain's doubles specialist Marcel Granollers responded ironically on Wednesday on his Twitter feed.

"I didn't know that Gala Leon was an icon in many countries," he wrote. "Can anyone tell me which ones?"

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