The Paris prosecutor alerted the PNF to the suspicions on March 11 and the PNF transferred the case to the judicial police’s anti-corruption office.
The FFT has been rocked by a number of recent controversies, including the firing of managing director Gilbert Ysern in February after weeks of disagreements with president Jean Gachassin.
That move divided French tennis with top players Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau backing the ousted Ysern.
Other controversies saw Arnaud Clement evicted as Davis Cup captain to be replaced by Yannick Noah, with Clement then suing the FFT for 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million), and Guadeloupe being selected as the venue for a Davis Cup tie against Canada in March.
On February 17 a satirical French newspaper, Le Canard Enchaine, published an article alleging misconduct by Gachassin, accusing him of selling French Open tickets at face value to a travel agent friend who then sold them on at five times their original price.
“In exchange, the FFT president, a former rugby international, was invited by the travel agency to the Six Nations, all expenses paid,” wrote another newspaper, the Journal de Dimanche.
