LONDON — The ATP Tour set out a brand new safeguarding coverage Friday which goals to make sure gamers and workers really feel secure from abuse on tour and know the way to report inappropriate habits.
In a transfer which mirrors work completed by the WTA in ladies’s tennis, the ATP’s code of conduct units out how investigations needs to be performed and a spread of potential punishments, from reprimands as much as completely revoking entry to its tournaments.
The ATP additionally says it’ll launch coaching for gamers, coaches and workers all through subsequent yr.
“Everybody concerned in our occasions – from gamers and their groups to workers and volunteers – deserves to really feel secure, revered, and valued,” chief govt Eno Polo stated in an announcement. “This program helps make {that a} actuality. By introducing clear protections in opposition to abuse, we’re strengthening the tradition of tennis and aligning our sport with international requirements of governance and care.”
The code of conduct covers areas like bullying, sexual harassment and violence, in addition to habits which might represent an “abuse of belief” in knowledgeable relationship.
It additionally commits gamers, coaches and tour personnel to report any issues about abusive habits and to inform the ATP’s safeguarding director if they’re dealing with investigations from police or social companies about “any habits constituting both a legal offence or a safeguarding concern.”
Friday’s launch of the safeguarding program brings extra construction to the tour’s method, which was beforehand within the highlight when the ATP commissioned an investigation in 2021 into German participant Alexander Zverev. The ATP stated in 2023 that the investigation discovered “inadequate proof” to substantiate home abuse allegations in opposition to Zverev, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, who denied wrongdoing. He settled the case in June of 2024.
