ITF and ITIA confirm integrated approach to integrity for tennis from 2022

The Tennis Integrity Supervisory Board, composed by independent directors and representatives from the governing bodies of tennis, has unanimously confirmed that the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) will take on responsibility for the sport’s anti-doping programme starting January 1, 2022. The programme was previously overseen by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Integrity matters in the sport concerning doping and corruption jointly come under the auspices of the ITIA, an independent body funded by the governing bodies of tennis. “Having one fully integrated organization working on both anti-doping and anti-corruption creates a major opportunity for the sport. Shared intelligence and shared resources will make us more efficient, and mostly, more effective, said Jennie Price, Chair of the Tennis Integrity Supervisory Board. This is the result of a great deal of planning in the last twelve months to ensure we are ready to hit the ground running on January 1. The independence of the ITIA is crucial when it comes to integrity matters and tennis can be proud that it is leading the way”.

David Haggerty, President of the ITF added: “This is a really important moment for tennis. As a sport, we committed to more transparency and complete independence for the way the doping and anti-corruption programmes are managed. We have worked closely with the ITIA to ensure a seamless handover of responsibilities and we look forward to supporting their efforts moving forward”.

In addition, the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program rules for 2022 were also agreed by the Tennis Integrity Supervisory Board. The rules now include a “prohibited association” clause, mirroring the anti-doping regulations. This means that players, coaches or officials who have been sanctioned for anti-corruption offences can no longer have any sporting or professional association with participants in the sport whether inside or outside of sanctioned events. And that there is more scope for investigations to cross over between codes to allow evidence from Anti-Corruption cases to be used in Anti-Doping investigations and vice versa.

The Board also agreed a budget of $15.8m for the ITIA’s operations in 2022 to cover both anti-corruption and anti-doping efforts. This represents the sport’s highest-ever investment into integrity.