SANTIAGO, Chile — Problems continue to pile up in Chilean tennis, but almost none of them are related to the Davis Cup tie against Spain in September. Instead, investigations involving the federation’s newly elected president have triggered a mass resignation from the Chilean Tennis Federation’s board.
When Milovan Kegevic won the election in early June, alarm bells immediately went off. The 52-year-old official was facing two ongoing cases: one involving alleged threats against his daughter and another related to the alleged forgery and fraudulent use of private documents.
Kegevic admitted to the verbal altercation but clarified that, although his daughter was the one who filed the complaint, they currently have a cordial relationship.
“It’s not false. She wanted to leave the house, she insulted me and I insulted her back. I must have said worse things, and I don’t regret it. Because maybe, as a father, with today’s snowflake generation, you have to act that way,” he told Chilean newspaper The Clinic.
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The same outlet also reported that the Chilean tennis federation’s new president had faced other legal proceedings and controversies in the past. In 2006, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a supporter of dictator Augusto Pinochet. In 2007, he faced a complaint for causing injuries, and in 2014 he was involved in a case involving misappropriation and fraud, which was closed after a payment of 5 million Chilean pesos.
Addressing that record, the new head of the Chilean Tennis Federation denied any wrongdoing.
“I declare myself innocent of the charges. The courts of law confirmed that as well. I have never been convicted,”he said in that report.
Despite his legal status, four board members resigned from their positions due to disagreements with Kegevic and also challenged the election of another director, María Escobar, citing a 2007 conviction for misappropriation.
At the same time, Guillermo Gómez, former coach of Alejandro Tabilo and Tomás Barrios, stepped down from his role as the federation’s head coach.
“I consider it impossible to continue carrying out my duties when political decisions end up taking precedence over technical criteria,” he said, adding that the conditions he had set for continuing in the role were not respected.
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Following the mass resignation of board members, the opposition to the new president filed an appeal seeking to annul the election, arguing that there was no longer a sufficient quorum for the federation’s board to operate. They also raised concerns over alleged irregularities in his candidacy, including support from fictitious clubs and failure to meet the minimum requirements.
The appeal also claimed that the university degree submitted by Kegevic was fraudulent, a matter that was later confirmed by the university itself.
According to La Tercera, this led the Instituto Nacional de Deportes (IND), Chile’s public agency responsible for the country’s sports policies, to file a new complaint against him, this time over “forgery or fraudulent use of public documents.”
On 13 July, the Electoral Commission accepted the appeal and suspended the official proclamation of Kegevic as president. The Chilean official is nevertheless seeking to overturn the decision and remain in office, accusing his opponents of carrying out an “assassination of his image.”
This series of alleged irregularities and legal disputes has put the federation’s operations under pressure, with the Davis Cup tie against Spain in Santiago now less than two months away. Whether Carlos Alcaraz plays or not is a minor issue on the horizon of Chilean tennis.
