The Tennis Integrity Unit
In September 2008 professional tennis became one of the first major sports to establish its own dedicated anti-corruption unit. The Tennis Integrity Unit is charged with enforcing the sport’s zero-tolerance policy towards gambling-related corruption worldwide.
Tennis’s Governing Bodies have put in place a stringent code of conduct to combat corruption. Titled the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme, it applies to all players and personnel associated with the sport. The Programme gives members of the TIU extensive powers when investigating possible corruption offences.
This decisive action followed publication of a comprehensive, independent report into the risks and threats that faced tennis as a sport subject to ever-increasing attention from the gambling community.
In many countries betting is a legal and accepted pastime but in some it is illegal and outlawed. With such an inconsistent legal backdrop it is even more imperative that tennis has its own unambiguous rules that apply to all parties, irrespective of where a tournament takes place and who is playing in it.
