The Backcourt issue 1 - Spring 2024
The Backcourt is our new series of updates on the latest legal, regulatory and policy topics in tennis. Each edition shines a spotlight on the issues covering all levels of the game – with implications for tournaments, players, officials and others within the sport.
The not-so-much-sunshine double wrapped in Miami at the end of March, with Floridian Danielle Collins – fresh off announcing her decision to retire at the end of this year – dazzling a raucous home crowd, while a relentless Jannik Sinner moved to 22-1 for the season. As the ATP and WTA tours roll into Europe for the clay-court swing, in this first issue of the Backcourt we recap on what’s been happening off court.
CAS decisions shine spotlight on sanction appeal processes
Two major disciplinary actions have come to a head at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In the most high-profile decision, CAS has partially upheld an appeal from Romanian two-time slam champion Simona Halep – against a disciplinary sanction imposed by an independent tribunal in 2023 (which imposed a four-year period of ineligibility on the player for breaches of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP)).
CAS’ full written decision will follow at a later date, but it has confirmed that the sanction has been reduced from four years to nine months. The extent of this reduction is likely of pique the interest of disciplinary bodies in other sports beyond tennis.
Less high-profile, but in many respects no less important, CAS has separately dismissed an appeal from Tunisian chair umpire Abderahim Gharsallah. The national-level official is currently serving a seven-year suspension for four breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) – related to him (and two other umpires) having been found to have manipulated scores on their electronic scoring devices (which were contrary to the scores on court).
The Gharsallah decision follows a growing number of sanctions from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), and underscores the heightened expectations on officials in particular to uphold the integrity of the game. In the last quarter of 2023 alone, six officials were sanctioned under the TACP – with suspensions ranging between three and sixteen years.
The Halep case has, inevitably, garnered headlines – and it will be interesting to see how CAS reached such a different decision (principally, that the player "bore no significant fault or negligence") and dealt with the amount of the substance the athlete must have ingested and the pharmacokinetics (how a body interacts with certain substances post administration) analysis set out in the tribunal's previous decision. But from a broader arbitration perspective, cases such as Gharsallah highlight that, out of the spotlight, the end-to-end sanction process in many cases appears to be functioning well.
ITIA reports underline heightened anti-doping and anti-corruption efforts
These sanctions were among the updates included in the ITIA’s quarterly update for Q4 2023. The report includes some interesting data, which shows how the agency – which is still only three years old – is continuing to navigate a substantial workload.
Among the Q4 2023 data included in the report:
- the ITIA confirmed 22 sanctions under the TACP and 4 sanctions under the TADP (a steep rise on Q3 2023, in which there were 5 and 3 sanctions under the TACP and TADP respectively);
- 20 match alerts were received through its confidential memoranda of understanding with the regulated betting industry (just over half of the 38 alerts in Q3 2023); and
- 1,539 samples were taken from players (against 1,761 in Q3 2023), all with no notice
The number of sanctions in Q4 was particularly significant, in particular those under the TACP which appears to be where the need for intervention is particularly acute.
Following on from the quarterly update, the ITIA also published its annual review for 2023. In some respects, the report showed something of a plateauing of key data – for example, the 101 match alerts received in 2023 represented a small dip on the figures in 2022 (109) and 2021 (113) respectively.
However, the report underscores the efforts being made in terms of proactive prevention – and not just reactive intervention. In particular, the agency educated more individuals in 2023 than in any year since 2019 – nearly 12,000 personnel completed the Tennis Integrity Protection Programme (an interactive e-learning programme designed to demystify the TACP and TADP) during the year.
Serving financial security for ATP and WTA players
2024 is the first year of the ATP’s groundbreaking Baseline financial security package. The package comprises three pillars – all designed to ensure more players can make a sustainable living from the sport:
- minimum guarantee – guarantees minimum income levels for the top 250-ranked players each season (set at USD300,000, USD150,000 and USD75,000 for top 100, 101-175 and 176-250 ranked players respectively);
- income protection – provides financial support for players who play fewer than nine events (ATP and Challenger Tour) in the season due to injury (between USD50,000 and USD200,000 depending on ranking); and
- newcomer investment – offers additional support for up-and-coming players on breaking into the top 125 for the first time (USD200,000 of funding).
Players with more than USD15m of career earnings will not be eligible.
Baseline is initially running as a three-year ‘proof of concept’ trial. It is unclear if the WTA will follow suit, while there are also growing calls from players for the women’s association to introduce maternity pay for players on tour. The WTA’s current maternity policy focuses on ranking and tournament entry, but has come into sharper focus with several top players having recently returned from maternity absences.
From a regulatory perspective, the ATP’s Baseline programme has been absorbed in the ATP Rulebook as a ‘Platinum Benefit’ (clause 1.21(B)). It will be interesting to see the extent to which these and other potential improvements to players’ ‘benefits’ are permanently adopted, and what the respective benefits packages may look like for male and female players following any possible merger of the tours (see below).
Will they, won’t they? ATP and WTA merger rumours heat up
The rumour mill continues to turn on a possible merger – or at the very least, closer collaboration – between the ATP and WTA.
It has been reported that a merger of the ATP and WTA’s commercial and media rights is being progressed, in a deal that is estimated to value the combined entity at around £3 billion. According to reports, the move to bring all commercial ventures into a single entity would be a precursor to a merger of the associations in 2025.
Rumours of the merger follow on the heels of the WTA’s strategic partnership with CVC (announced last year) and, more recently, the ATP’s strategic partnership with the PIF (the Saudi sovereign wealth fund).
From a legal and regulatory perspective, a combination of the ATP and WTA in any shape or form would throw up a number of interesting challenges – from the mechanics of any merger and governance of any combined entity (optimally, ensuring that the women’s game does not get unfairly sidelined); right down to tournament licenses (assuming that there might ultimately be better harmonisation of tour calendars), broadcast and sponsorship rights and even esoteric matters such as staff and player retirement plans.
And finally – evolution not revolution for doubles
Eagle-eyed fans may see some changes at the upcoming Madrid Open, with the ATP having announced that the men’s doubles event will be used to trial several measures aimed at speeding up the game. The changes to be trialled at the event include:
- reducing the ‘shot clock’ from 25 to 15 seconds following rallies shorter than four shots;
- fewer ‘sit-downs’ and quicker changeovers;
- a streamlined schedule over five days during the second week of the tournament;
- 16 of the 32 draw slots reserved for teams entering via a singles ranking; and
- free fan movement in the arena during play.
The ATP has confirmed that, beyond La Caja Mágica, format changes will continue to be tested at select events during the rest of the season. From a regulatory perspective, successful changes can ultimately be expected to be absorbed into the ATP Rulebook.
