TIU Press Release, June 2, 2019

A newly formed independent Tennis Integrity Unit Supervisory Board meets for the first time during Roland Garros. Comprising five independent members and four representatives from tennis, the new structure is an important milestone in the move towards greater independence and additional governance and oversight for the Tennis Integrity Unit.

The establishment of an independent Tennis Integrity Unit Supervisory Board was a prominent recommendation of the Independent Review Panel’s (IRP) Final Report published at the end of 2018.

In February this year, former Sport England chief executive officer Jennie Price was appointed as the independent Chair of the Tennis Integrity Unit Supervisory Board, and she has led the international search to recruit the remaining independent members. As recommended by the IRP, none of the independent members has a recent connection with or role in tennis.

Those appointments have now been completed and include four distinguished individuals with exceptional track records in elite sport, the law, sports integrity and finance:

Sir Philip Craven, the highly respected former President of the International Paralympic Committee between 2001-17 and member of the International Olympic Committee and British Olympic Association. A five-time Paralympian in wheelchair basketball and swimming, Sir Philip won gold medals at World and European championships, Commonwealth Games and the European Champions Cup. He was President of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation from 1998 to 2002. He is also a member of the global Board of Toyota. Sir Philip was knighted for services to Paralympic Sport and received an MBE for services to wheelchair basketball.

Avril Martindale is a senior lawyer with over 30 years’ international experience in commercial law. As a partner in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer she has specialised in intellectual property, data and commercial sponsorship. Her corporate clients include numerous global businesses, while in sport she has worked closely with Formula One and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012. Avril is a member of the Steering Committee of the 30% Club, an international organisation promoting gender balance on boards and in senior management.

Sal Perna is the Australian state of Victoria’s Racing Integrity Commissioner, overseeing integrity assurance in the thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing codes. A former Commissioned Officer of the Victoria Police, he also has extensive corporate integrity experience with organisations including Australia Post and Telstra. As founder of a specialist security risk consultancy, he was the architect of the first Tennis Australia Anti-Corruption Program. He also assisted the Australian Football League to develop its integrity assurance program. Sal sits on Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) Advisory Board.

Bob Harayda is an international executive and board director with over 30 years in senior leadership roles in the hospitality and energy sectors in the U.S., Asia and Europe. He is currently the Senior Vice President, Finance, at the iconic Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in Singapore, including hotel, casino, retail and leisure businesses. He has oversight of the organisation’s financial operations, governance, regulation and compliance, including gambling regulation and compliance. Prior to that he was on the senior management team of ExxonMobil Corporation for 22 years.

Commenting on the Board appointments, Jennie Price said: “I am delighted that we have been able to secure a group of outstanding people to join the Tennis Integrity Unit Supervisory Board. They are all recognised as leaders in their respective fields and the complementary skills and expertise they bring will make an important contribution to ensuring that tennis remains at the forefront of the fight against corruption in sport.”

Membership of the Tennis Integrity Unit Supervisory Board is completed with senior representatives from the four International Governing Bodies of tennis, the ATP, WTA, ITF and Grand Slam Board.

The first meeting of the full Tennis Integrity Unit Supervisory Board during Roland Garros will discuss a range of agenda items, including:

–         approving proposals to establish the TIU as an independent legal entity

–         the recruitment of a chief executive officer for the TIU

–         approving an initial strengthening of the TIU’s investigative and intelligence functions

–         discussing progress on the implementation of Independent Review Panel recommendations