Francesco Ricci Bitti

Francesco Ricci Bitti (born 15 January 1942 in Faenza) is an Italian sports administrator who was the President of the International Tennis Federation from 1999 to 2015.[1]

Francesco Ricci Bitti
Born (1942-01-15) 15 January 1942
Italy
Alma mater
OccupationItalian sports administrator
OrganizationInternational Tennis Federation
TitlePresident

Biography

He was born in Bologna, Italy, and studied electrical engineering at the University of Bologna.[2] He has a PhD in Electronic Engineering from Bologna University, and an MBA from ISTUD Milan.[3]

He was a member of the Italian National Junior Tennis Team (1960), and won the Italian University Tennis Championships (1962, 1964, 1965).[3] He then played international tennis (1964–71), and was a member of the Italian National Team Tennis Championships (1970–71).[3]

In his business career, he has served on boards of directors of Phillips, GTE, Olivetti, Alcatel, and Telecom Italy.[2][3]

In his career in sports administration, he has been Chairman and a member of the Tennis Europe Junior Competitions Committees (1977–97), technical delegate for tennis at the 1984 Summer Olympics, President of Tennis Europe (1993–99), a member of the Italian National Olympic Committee Council (1997–99), President of the Italian Tennis Federation (1997–99), a mediator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (1999–), a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency Foundation Board (2001–), a member of the Executive Board of the Italian National Olympic Committee (2006–12), and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency Executive Committee (2008–).[3]

International Tennis Federation

He was Chairman and a member of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Competitions Committees from 1977 to 1997, and a member of the ITF Board of Directors from 1987 to 1997.[3] He was also an ITF representative at the 1992 Olympic Games and the 1996 Olympic Games,[3] The ITF runs the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments, the Davis Cup, and Fed Cup.[4]

He served as President of the ITF from 1999 to 2015.[5] He was re-elected President of the ITF for a fourth term (2011–15) at the 2011 ITF Annual General Meeting.[6]

In November 2013, after Tunisia was suspended from the 2014 Davis Cup competition when Tunisian player Malek Jaziri was ordered by the Tunisian Tennis Federation not to compete against Israeli player Amir Weintraub at the 2013 Tashkent Challenger, Bitti said: "There is no room for prejudice of any kind in sport or in society."[7]

Association of Summer Olympic International Federations

He was a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations Council (2001–09), and is now President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations.[3][8]

References
  1. "Francesco Ricci Bitti". Sport.fr. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  2. "Biofile with Francesco Ricci Bitti". Tennis-prose.com. 15 January 1942. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  3. "Francesco Ricci Bitti". Tennis Archives. 15 January 1942. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  4. "ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti running unopposed for third term". Taiwan News. 6 March 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  5. Briggs, Simon. "International Tennis Federation backs Andy Murray and Roger Federer's call for tougher anti-doping measures". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  6. "Ricci Bitti re-elected ITF President". ITF Tennis. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  7. "Tunisia suspended from Davis Cup over Malek Jaziri order | Tennis News". Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  8. "About". ASOIF. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
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