Trio of appointments to bring added strength to the TIU

The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) has announced a strengthening of its investigative, intelligence and educational capabilities, with the addition of a new trio of staff members.

Responsible for enforcing the zero tolerance policy on betting related corruption encapsulating all professional tennis on a worldwide basis, the TIU states that the fresh appointments add greater depth, expertise and capability to the unit.

The first new recruit is Karen Risby who joins as an investigator following a 20-year career as a detective, with a number of high profile deployments under her belt including with the Special Branch and Anti-Terrorist Units.

After culminating work as an Ethics and Compliance Manager with the Police, Risby went onto the US based Supreme Group, becoming responsible for carrying out integrity training and investigations associated with military operations in Africa and the Middle East.

Next is Steven Downes who has been recruited as an Intelligence Analyst, placing an increased focus on the use of intelligence in combating corruption within the sport of tennis.

Become the fourth member of the TIU’s Information and Intelligence team, it’s detailed that the fluent Spanish speaker brings a wealth of experience gained across numerous police intelligence roles in London.

Third and finally is Richard Sackey-Addo, who joined the Education and Training team in January as an Education Coordinator.

Sackey-Addo, a Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) accredited coach and Spanish speaker, holds an MSc in Sports Performance, as well as being a former University Tennis Coordinator with Tennis Foundation, and part of the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Coach Education Department in Valencia, Spain.

The TIU also details that it received a total of 38 match alerts for the first quarter of 2018, January to March inclusive, through its confidential Memorandums of Understanding with gambling regulators and leading betting organisations.

That is roughly in line with previous figures from the same period, with 2017 showing 30 alerts, 2016 producing 48 and 2015 bringing 32.