	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2016

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

THE MODERATOR: We have representatives here today from across the sport about to give you a united response to some of the media reports regarding the work of the Tennis Integrity Unit.

We are going to open today with a statement read by Chris Kermode, who is the executive chairman and president of the ATP; center seat.

We have Nigel Willerton, who is the director of the Tennis Integrity Unit.

On the far side, Mark Young, the vice chairman of the ATP.

We will start with a statement from Chris. There will be an opportunity for questions after Chris has read his statement.

CHRIS KERMODE: First of all, thank you very much, everyone, for coming here at such short notice, but we thought it was important to address this issue head on straightaway, so appreciate the tournament.

The Australian Open is a big tournament about to start and you're busy with match action, but did want to address this. All of us collectively in tennis felt it was important to do this today.

The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated.

And while the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information, and we always do.

In its investigations, the Tennis Integrity Unit has to find evidence as opposed to information, suspicion, or hearsay. This is the key here, that it requires evidence. A year-long investigation into the Solpot match in 2007 found insufficient evidence.

As the BuzzFeed report states itself, the investigators hit a brick wall and 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 Anticorruption Program. Tennis Integrity Unit anticorruption investigations have resulted in 18 convictions of which 6 have had life bans.

Let me just say that all of us here in tennis are absolutely committed to stamp out any form of corrupt conduct in our sport. There is a zero tolerance policy on this. We are not complacent. We are very vigilant on this.

Whilst we are aware that all sport - all sport, not just tennis - is at potential risk of corruption, that is why, in 2008 the Tennis Integrity Unit was set up to actually tackle this issue head on. We are constantly vigilant and not complacent.

So that's really from me. But any questions?

THE MODERATOR: Please direct the questions to Chris. If appropriate, he will direct them to either Nigel or Mark as needed.

Questions, please.

Q. Does this cast a massive shadow over the Australian Open, or are you determined to push on with an event which will...
CHRIS KERMODE: Yeah, you know, I think it's always a disappointment when stories come out like this just before the big event, because it does detract.

But we are so confident that, you know, there is nothing in the sport that is being suppressed. We are confident that the Tennis Integrity Unit is doing what it can and tackles this issue very, very seriously.

I think it will be, you know, seen that tennis is in a very, very good place and we are acting accordingly.

Q. The report does kind of cast some doubt about whether enough resource is being put into TIU. How do you feel about that factor? What more could be done?
CHRIS KERMODE: I think, you know, the point to make is that it was formed in 2008, and it has grown. You know, tennis has invested over $14 million to address this issue of corruption.

And it's constantly being reviewed. I think that's the big message for today. This is not something that we are taking for granted.

You know, we get together as tennis with its tennis integrity board and we talk about investment. There has never, ever been a request from Nigel, who is in charge of the Tennis Integrity Unit, for funds that we haven't supplied.

So, yeah, but we will continue to review where we should go from here.

Q. I want to ask, what access does the TIU have to players' telephone records, e-mail records, their online communications, generally? What access do they have? And do you think that it's enough?
CHRIS KERMODE: Can I throw that over to Nigel actually on a technical basis?

NIGEL WILLERTON: Under the Tennis Anticorruption Program, we can demand their phones and laptops and iPads. Obviously they have to consent to give them.

However, if they don't then consent to give them that's called noncooperation, and they can be reported and sanctioned for noncooperation, in which there was a case recently when a player was sanctioned for a two-year suspension.

Q. And are you happy that that access is sufficient for you to carry out your investigations?
NIGEL WILLERTON: We also work closely with law enforcement, because the Tennis Anticorruption Program does mirror criminal offenses basically, but we are not law enforcement. Whereas they could arrest people and seize those items, we cannot.

And I think you can't go any further. I think the rules we have are very robust, and they give us good, good investigative powers.

Q. As you say, most of the allegations relate to things that happened in the mid-2000s, but there is also a suggestion that there is a kind of core group of players who attracts the hearsay, suspicion that you're talking about; and then the next implication is that more could be done maybe with these powers that Nigel has mentioned to try to pin down those allegations against this group of players. Could you address that?
CHRIS KERMODE: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we have heard this quite a bit, that there are certain allegations and information about various players, and they can be sometimes seen to be a consistent, a consistent group.

But, you know, going back to the first thing I said, it's about obtaining evidence. You can have, you know, lots of information, lots of anecdotal reports, but it's about getting evidence that we can use.

So anything that is reported to the Tennis Integrity Unit is acted upon and is investigated, and that's, again, a very important sort of message to get across. This doesn't just sort of filter out somewhere. It is acted upon.

NIGEL WILLERTON: That is correct. I will confirm that very strongly. Everything that comes into the unit is actioned, it's assessed. But as I say, corruption is very difficult to detect and to obtain the evidence to prosecute these people who unfortunately go down that path.

Q. Do you think there is any issues with tennis possibly being too cozy with the gambling side of things when you have a tournament on the ATP called the Bet-at-Home Open and you have other gambling sponsors on backdrops of tournaments and other things. I know players aren't allowed to get individual sponsorships fm there, but the tour is. Do you see this intertwining you have with these companies making money off of that side of the industry at all problematic for when you do have such shadows from this other very real part of this aspect.
CHRIS KERMODE: It's a very real point. I don't think it's an issue because and I think it can actually help at times. Because, you know, Nigel and the Tennis Integrity Unit are working with betting companies all the time to spot corruption.

But the distinction to make is that betting itself is not an illegal, you know, pastime, and many people do bet on sport. What we are talking about corruption. And.

Sometimes we can talk about betting and corruption in the same thing, and they are different. I think the more we work with betting companies, because by the way, it's in their interest that there isn't corruption, right? So they are as strong as we are that we are getting rid of corruption within the game.

Q. Just to be clear, can you confirm that as of today there are players on tour and maybe on this tournament that are monitored by the TIU for possible match fixing offenses?
NIGEL WILLERTON: Can you repeat the question?

Q. Can you confirm or not that as of today there are players on the tour and maybe in this tournament that are being monitored by your unit for possible match fixing offenses?
NIGEL WILLERTON: It would be inappropriate for me to make comment as to whether any players are under investigation at the present time.

Q. I'd like to follow up a little bit Ben. If you don't see any contradiction -- okay, betting companies are supporting. They want to delegate match fixing and everything else. Then we are journalists. Sometimes we are told to not even make predictions or suggest maybe a player is not in great shape so he could lose to somebody else, and they tell us to sign things like that before we get a credentials. They want to know if you don't see any contradiction on that, because if you have sponsors who are pushing to bet, and they are writing everywhere...
CHRIS KERMODE: I think I did answer it with Ben, which is that there is a distinction between -- you know, betting is a legal pastime.

Q. Prediction for a journalist is, too.
THE MODERATOR: This sounds like an offline conversation for journalists perhaps.

Q. I see a contradiction on that.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, everybody.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297