Jonny Gray, the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), took up his post this week (w/c 17 February 2020), marking a further significant step in the evolution of the organisation.
The appointment of a CEO for the TIU was one of a number of governance recommendations contained in the December 2018 Final Report of the Independent Review Panel (IRP), which looked at all aspects of betting-related integrity in professional tennis.
Implementation of those recommendations began in February 2019, with the creation of an independent Supervisory Board chaired by Jennie Price CBE, a former CEO of Sport England. The nine-person Board includes five independent members, together with four senior representatives from the governing bodies of tennis.
In addition to the Chair, the independent members include Sir Philip Craven MBE, the former President of the International Paralympic Committee, Avril Martindale, a senior lawyer, Sal Perna AM, the Australian state of Victoria’s Racing Integrity Commissioner, and Bob Harayda, an international executive and board director.
Since being fully constituted in May 2019, the Supervisory Board has reached a number of substantive decisions. These include agreement on the progressive removal of live scoring data at all ITF World Tennis Tour $15k events, and the amalgamation of the sport’s anti-corruption and anti-doping functions.
With the new CEO now in place, work on another of the IRP’s governance recommendations – establishing a new, independent, integrity organisation with a separate legal personality – is an immediate priority. This will become the single integrity organisation for the sport, replacing the current TIU and including the sport’s anti-doping programme, with effect from January 2021.
The IRP’s Final Report and recommendations can be viewed and downloaded at: https://www.tennisintegrityunit.com/storage/app/media/Independent%20Reviews/Final%20Report_191218.pdf
Published 17 February 2020 12:00
