THE father of two French tennis prodigies who has been accused of drugging their opponents was obsessed with his children’s careers, it was claimed yesterday.
Lawyers and colleagues of Christophe Fauviau said that he had given up his job as a helicopter pilot in the French Army to train his son, Maxime, 16, and daughter, Valentine, 13. Valentine is one of France’s brightest prospects, but Maxime is no more than a good amateur, although he beat adults. His father is accused of drugging them with the anti-depressant Temesta.
M Fauviau, 43, is being held in jail in Mont-de-Marsan, southwest France, after one of his alleged victims died when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car. Police are also investigating claims from two players who say M Fauviau slipped Temesta into their water bottles.
At the tennis club in Dax, near Mont-de-Marsan, where M Fauviau plays, members expressed bewilderment at the affair and said that the cases being investigated involved village tournaments in which Maxime was playing.
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“He was a good regional player but he would never have been a champion,” said François Duport, a technical adviser for the Côte Basque-Béarn-Landes league, based in Dax. “There was nothing to win at these tournaments except a few hundred francs.”
M Fauviau was said to have lost touch with reality as he pursued his dream of seeing his children on the professional circuit.“He was omnipresent at their training sessions and he was strict and demanding,” M Duport said.
About a year ago M Fauviau fell out with tennis officials over Valentine’s training. Jacques Dupré, of the tennis federation, said he removed his daughter from school. Even though he has no qualification he oversaw her training and travelled with her to international junior competitions.