Report recommends new approach to stamp out corruption

LONDON: A report on the integrity of tennis on Wednesday recommended an overhaul of attempts to tackle corruption in the sport.

A panel led by lawyer Adam Lewis was appointed in early 2016 by the sport’s governing bodies to look into the issue and nearly three years later the final recommendations have been published in the Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis report.

The recommendations, which the sport pledged to implement in full from the outset, include limiting the sale of live data to reduce the opportunities for betting-related corruption, a ban on receiving sponsorship from betting companies and a reorganisation of the Tennis Integrity Unit.

“There is no simple solution or panacea to deal with the problem now faced,” the report said.

“Rather, what is required is a package of measures to tackle the underlying causes of the problem in the organisation of the sport; to address and limit the betting markets that ultimately drive, and give expression to, the problem; and to improve the systems for preventing and disrupting breaches of integrity, and for detecting and sanctioning them when they occur.”

In a joint statement, the heads of the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation and the four Grand Slams, said: “Having already confirmed our agreement in principle to the draft recommendations contained in the IRP’s Interim Report of April 2018, we will now work collectively to prioritise timely implementation of the panel’s final integrity and governance recommendations.”