TROUBLE broke out in Philippine tennis yesterday after long-time chief Salvador Andrada was elected anew as president to finish the unexpired term of the resigned Edwin Olivarez.
Andrada was elected by seven of the 12 members of the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) board of trustees to serve until 2018.
But a group within Philta, led by vice president Randy Villanueva, questioned the validity of the election, saying it violated their rules of succession.
The 81-year-old Andrada was head of Philta from 1986 to 2000 and was recently elected honorary lifetime president of the Asian Tennis Federation. He finished his term as Philippine Sports Commissioner last month.
Villanueva, the 41-year-old administrator of the PH Davis Cup team, opposed Andrada’s return, saying his group feels there are others more deserving of the post.
Villanueva vowed to rally tennis’ stakeholders to “stand for change.”
Among those reportedly in the opposing group is Philta chair Jean Henri Lhuillier, who had earlier asked for the election’s postponement because they were informed about it on short notice.
But Andrada said the election followed procedures and that Philippine Olympic Committee representative Cynthia Carrion was there to make sure it was conducted well.
The poll was called by secretary general Romeo Magat. Also present at the exercise were board of trustees members Martin and Manuel Misa, who was named executive vice president.
Andrada said the four of them and three proxy votes were enough to install him as new Philta head.