The French financial prosecution service said it had seized "documents useful to the investigation" as it looks into the alleged illegal sale of tickets for the French Open and into the "conditions of awarding of the contract for the extension of the Roland Garros stadium", where the Grand Slam is held annually. 

A travel agency in the French commune Tarbes was also searched as part of the investigation, according to reports.

The FFT confirmed its offices had been searched and said it was fully co-operating with investigators.

"The Federation has done important work over the past 10 years to limit trafficking of tickets and the black market," the FFT’s lawyer Eric Andrieu told AFP.

The raid comes after Le Canard Enchainé, a French satirical newspaper, published an article in February alleging Gachassin had sold French Open tickets at face value to a travel agent who had then sold them on at five times their original cost.

An investigation into the allegations was launched by the French Sports Ministry in September of last year. 

The FFT has also been hit by recent rows, notably the sacking of managing director Gilbert Ysern in February after clashing with Gachassin regarding the management of the organisation.

The development marks the latest in a host of off-court dramas that have rocked tennis this year with a joint BBC and Buzzfeed investigation revealing suspected widespread match fixing in the professional game.

In March, five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova of Russia revealed she had been provisionally banned after testing positive for meldonium at January's Australian Open.

A spate of cases involving the heart-attack drug, which was only added to the banned list by the World Anti-Doping Agency from January 1, have since emerged. 

Many athletes claimed that they did not know the substance - which is said to boost endurance - was to be outlawed, with Sharapova saying she had not read the updated banned list.

The French Open, the second Grand Slam of the year, is due to start on May 22.