LONDON (AFP) — Tennis chiefs on Monday launched a joint review of their anti-corruption policies as they bid to fight the threat posed by gambling.
The ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the organisers of the four grand slam tournaments have come together to launch the review, which will be led by former Metropolitan Police officers Jeffrey Rees and Ben Gunn.
Rees and Gunn have already overseen similar projects in cricket and horseracing.
"Today's announcement represents another important step by our sport's leaders to ensure that we do everything in our power to combat the very real threat of gambling," said Larry Scott, chief executive of the women's WTA Tour.
"Each of tennis' governing bodies has already taken proactive measures to keep our sport clean, but this independent review will help us ensure we are protecting the integrity of professional tennis into the future."
Steps have already been taken towards creating uniform regulations in the wake of several betting-related scandals to hit the sport.
Three Italian players have been banned by the ATP in recent months for betting on matches, while Russian Nikolay Davydenko is the subject of an investigation after suspicious betting patterns emerged in a match he played in Poland in August.
"Integrity of competition is the essence of all sport. That is why we remain fully committed to meeting the global challenge posed by gambling face on," said Etienne de Villiers, Executive Chairman of the ATP.
"We have stringent procedures and sanctions in place to deal with any suspected corruption and have shown we will act decisively where our integrity rules are broken."
Bill Babcock, ITF Executive Director and Grand Slam Administrator added: "The ITF and the four Grand Slams continue to believe in the integrity of tennis but, together with our partners from the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, we recognize the need to take positive action to prevent corruption in our sport.
"This independent review by experts in the field will give us a more comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand and allow us to take specific measures to protect our sport now and for the future."
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