https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2022/04/14/revealed-secret-society-tennis-umpires-living-rule-fear-power/
Revealed: 'Secret society' of tennis umpires living under reign of fear, power abuses and sexual favours
Exclusive: Telegraph investigation has exposed allegations of exploitation going on for decades which have been kept secret
BySimon Briggs, 14 April 2022
Tennis umpires are living under a “rule of fear” and are at risk of predatory sexual advances according to leading figures within the sport, who have called for urgent reform to prevent the exploitation of young officials.
A Telegraph investigation into the case of Soeren Friemel – the ITF head of officiating who resigned last month after making “inappropriate comments and invitations” to a younger umpire – has revealed previous instances of similar behaviour.
We found that:
Power abuses of this kind have been known to tennis authorities for at least 15 years
Non-disclosure agreements have been employed to keep such cases secret
“Using your body” – being open to sexual advances – has long been considered a fast track for aspiring umpires
A small number of people have disproportionate influence over umpiring appointments, creating networks of patronage and the potential for exploitation
People are afraid to speak out, as whistleblowers tend to be ostracised
The investigation also found that tennis’s authorities, including the International Tennis Federation, have kept a lid on controversies by banning umpires from any interaction with media.
In the words of Richard Ings – a former head of officiating at the ATP Tour – “This rule was designed to prevent discussion of particular instances within matches. It was never designed to protect the sport from embarrassment. But that’s what it has become.”
Friemel’s resignation took place in the middle of the most turbulent period for player-umpire relations since John McEnroe was at his peak. In the first major event of 2022 – January’s Australian Open – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov earned an US$8,000 fine for yelling “You guys are all corrupt” at chair umpire Carlos Bernardes.
'We have to rip the system up'
Friemel’s case drew worldwide interest when it was first reported by the Telegraph on Feb 3. A 50-year-old German, Friemel was suspended for 12 months in relation to four incidents involving the same umpire between 2011 and 2015. According to an ITF spokesperson, “The issue was the situation of power imbalance.”
Now the Telegraph can reveal that similar allegations had previously been made against another leading tennis official, who cannot be named for legal reasons. This second case is widely known within the officiating world but has never been brought to public notice, because of the non-disclosure agreements used in what one insider called “a compromise departure”.
Other former officials have told the Telegraph that abuses of various kinds have been going on in secret for decades. Networks of patronage develop because power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of individuals. Young officials have every reason to want to curry favour with their superiors.
“In my time, it was a well-known fast-track for your career if you were open to using your body to promote your career,” said Martin Wikstrom, a Swede who was a chair umpire in the early 2000s, before becoming a successful business executive. “When you look at some of the officials that came through – let's say within 10 years – there was no way that they would have made it, if the decision was purely based on their competence.”
Friemel’s suspension is unusual in that it emerged into the public domain, unlike previous scandals. Umpiring’s culture of silence starts with the Code of Conduct signed by all officials, stating that they “shall not, at any time, participate in any media interviews or meetings with journalists … without the approval of the supervisor/referee”. In practice, this approval is rarely given. And without any means for the younger, less experienced officials to have their voices heard, they become vulnerable to exploitation.
“Officials are afraid to speak,” said Richard Ings, who was the ATP’s head of officiating from 2001 to 2005, as well as the world’s highest-ranked chair umpire in the late 1990s. “If they do tell a reporter about anything that is happening backstage, even anonymously, their bosses will go hunting for who gave that information. If they find who spoke out, or maybe just have suspicions, they don’t even have to bring a Code of Conduct charge. They can simply not select that person for the next job. People quickly get the message and there is a wall of silence that develops.”
'Your face needs to fit'
“It’s a boys’ club,” said one silver-badge umpire. “They manage the marks to keep people in certain positions. The organisations know who they want and then the end-of-year meeting is a negotiation, an exchange. ‘If you let us have our person, we’ll let you have yours.’ They arrange the grades they want, pump them up for the favoured ones, penalise others by ignoring the good things.
“Supervisors and judges have the flexibility to write up the reports in any way they want. It’s not transparent. It’s not neutral. Gold badge umpires” – of whom there are 33 – “come in 50 shades of gold. Some have half the draw on their ‘No List’, while others can handle all-comers. [The ‘No List’ comprises the players whose matches an umpire is kept away from, because of previous run-ins.]”
According to another official, the lack of clarity around appointments allows networks of patronage to develop. “Nowadays, for an umpire to make a good career or to be promoted, it is not enough to be good in the chair. Your face needs to fit as well. If you make the right connections, or go to the right weddings, your career will jump up in front of people who are much better than you, and you’ll keep going even if you make very bad mistakes on live worldwide TV.”
A better model?
Dent’s views on this last question are not shared by all. The senior tennis administrator – who preferred to remain anonymous – emphasised the need for more separation between officials and players.
“When the tours are reliant on good relations with the players, and officials are ruling on their matches, that’s quite tough,” the administrator said. “There’s a conflict of interest. An independent body is a very wise idea. The Friemel case has to be a wake-up call.”
For those who feel excluded or exploited by the system, a continuity candidate – meaning someone who is already high up in the industry – would be a further indication that nothing will change. They point at those who have been at the top of officiating for decades and suggest that their very silence is a kind of complicity.
Some believe that Friemel himself could yet return to frontline officiating, perhaps even stepping back into his other former position as referee of the US Open. This would not be a widely popular outcome, however. There are many who see his ITF resignation as an opportunity to rethink the whole area.
pre 5-6 godina je jedan sudija dobio otkaz jer je ukazao na sve ovo (citala tekst koji je neki tip napisao, cini mi se da ga je intervjuisao posle svega). zaboravila sam ime sudije, bio je onizi, procelav i cini mi se nekog arapskog ili bliskoistocnog porekla. tip je opisao situacije kojima je prisustvovao kada je onaj bradati francuski sudija (Cedric Mourier) onako bahato i bezobrazno komentarisao neke zenske sudije i slicno (ovoliko se secam, tekst je bio poduzi, s mnogo specificnih opisa situacija).
nasla sam koji je bivsi sudija u pitanju: Egipcanin Magdi Somat.
