Review coming of tennis’s anti-corruption group
Responding to reports that possible evidence of match fixing was not properly investigated, tennis’ governing bodies are setting up an independent review of the sport’s anti-corruption group, a person f amiliar with the plans tells The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the review of the Tennis Integrity Unit had not yet been announced.
The official word is supposed to come at a news conference on the grounds of the Australian Open on Wednesday. ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode, International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty and Wimbledon Chairman Philip Brook are scheduled to attend. Those three are members of the Tennis Integrity Board, with Brook as chairman, a rotating position.
The review will be run out of London, according to the person familiar with the plans.
As the year’s first Grand Slam tournament began last week, the BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports saying tennis authorities failed to thoroughly pur- sue evidence of match fixing involving more than a dozen players who have ranked in the top 50 over the past decade. No players were named.
At a news conference in Melbourne, Australia, when the reports first emerged, Kermode rejected the notion that there was unchecked match fixing in tennis or that any evidence might have been suppressed. He added that the Tennis Integrity Unit remained “constantly vigilant and not complacent” when it comes to tackling corruption.
The Tennis Integrity Unit began work in 2008, when the sport’s four main oversight groups — the ATP and WTA tours, the International Tennis Federation and the Grand Slam Committee — adopted an anti-corruption code to make sure the same rules and penalties are applied across tennis worldwide.
The year before, three players were suspended for betting on matches and an online site voided wagers on a match involving then-fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello because of some irregular betting patterns.