For the first time, the Federació Catalana de Tenis (FCT or Catalan Tennis Federation) will have on its board an out gay man, Manel Gines, a board member of FGG member organization Panteres Grogues in Barcelona. Manel is the treasurer of Panteres Grogues, and the coordinator of tennis within the multisport club.
He joins the board of FCT as part of a slate of candidates led by Joan Navarro, a childhood friend of Manel.
Their victory is a big shake-up for the federation, after a difficult election against outgoing president Francesc Orriols. The new team won by 110 to 104 in a run-off vote after a tied first round of voting.
A concrete hope for Panteres Grogues is for more favorable terms for renting tennis venues for their annual PantereSports multisport tournament, which will next be organized in September 2012. More important is the new possibility for developing projects within the FCT to fight homophobia in sport. The new team in place will be a much more interesting partner for such actions.
Sport in Spain is highly decentralized, and the autonomous region of Catalonia has full responsibility for sport. All sports clubs in the region are member of the Catalan federation for their sport, with some also being members of the Spanish national federation.
The FGG sends its best wishes to Manel in his new duties, with our hopes for a fruitful exchange between LGBT and mainstream sports bodies.
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