The Tennis Integrity Unit and Tennis Anti-Corruption Program
Due to increasing attention from the gambling community, tennis' governing bodies (ATP, WTA, Grand Slam Board, ITF) established the Tennis Integrity Unit in 2008 to enforce the sport's zero-tolerance policy toward gambling-related corruption.
• The Tennis Integrity Unit is led by director of integrity Nigel Willerton, a former senior detective with the Metropolitan Police in London.
• The backbone of the group is a code of conduct called the tennis anti-corruption program that applies to all players and personnel associated with the sport. The 16-page program lists its goals as 1. maintain the integrity of tennis, 2. protect against any efforts to impact improperly the results of any match and 3. establish a uniform rule and consistent scheme of enforcement and sanctions applicable to all professional tennis events and to all governing bodies.
• Players and personnel are prohibited from directly or indirectly wagering or attempting to wager on any tennis competition. Those involved in the sport can't facilitate wagering, even to the point of making a personal appearance for a tennis betting company. Among other offenses, players and personnel are prohibited from contriving to the outcome of any event or to solicit or facilitate a player not using his or her best efforts.
• Players and personnel are obligated to report possible offenses to the Tennis Integrity Unit as soon as possible.
• In the event of a suspected offense, the Tennis Integrity Unit will appoint an anti-corruption hearing officer and has the right to conduct an investigation. Hearings will be confidential and players and personnel suspected of committing offenses have the right to attend. Guilt is based on a preponderance of the evidence. The anti-corruption hearing officer will ultimately determine whether an offense has been committed.
• Penalties for players may include 1. a fine of $250,000 plus an amount equal to the value of the winnings or other amount received by the party in connection with the offense, 2. a three-year ban, 3. permanent ineligibility.
• Decisions may be appealed exclusively to the court of arbitration for sport (CAS), whose decision will be final.
• Once the conditions of a penalty have been satisfied, players or personnel are automatically eligible for reinstatement.
Tennis Integrity Unit response to BuzzFeed/BBC report
The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason
• In its investigations the Tennis Integrity Unit has to find evidence as opposed to information, suspicion or hearsay.
• A yearlong investigation into the match in Sopot, Poland, in 2007 found insufficient evidence. As the BuzzFeed report states: "The investigators had hit a brick wall. It just wasn't possible to determine who the guilty party was in relation to this match."
• All professional players, support staff and officials are subject to the tennis anti-corruption program.
• Tennis Integrity Unit-instigated anti-corruption investigations have resulted in 18 successful disciplinary cases including five players and one official who have been banned from the sport for life.