WHY COMING CLEAN IS ALWAYS THE BEST POLICY When mistakes are made, or regulations breached, either through negligence or intent, both players and tennis authorities need to realise that the worst thing they could do for the sport and for themselves is to cover up and deceive the public and other players. Why is it so hard for some to understand that the deceit and the cover up are most often much worse than the original doping offence? It shows a serious lack of public relations skills and reputation management, as well as a serious lack of integrity which is the main reason why it is judged to be so bad by the public. When the tennis authorities keep insisting on putting a lid on things, covering up and not coming clean about their procedures and findings, and even about their mistakes, they are effectively driving the public to suspect that there is something sinister in the tennis anti doping programme, to suspect that the system is so rotten to the core that they feel that they must keep the truth away from the public at all costs, even when people the world over and players are crying out for transparency and accountability, and a fairer and more effective programme. If the ITF, together with the ATP, the WTA and the tournament organisers do not make a serious effort at cleaning up shop and having a transparent anti doping programme that both the public and players can believe in, the only way to clean up tennis is for even higher authorities in sport and justice to move the programme away from the tennis authorities and have it truly independent - ONLY THEN WILL TENNIS STOP HAEMORRHAGING CREDIBILITY AND INTEGRITY. THIS IS WHY EVEN THE SPONSORS SHOULD START SERIOUSLY CALLING FOR A TRULY INDEPENDENT ANTI DOPING PROGRAMME, FOR THEY CAN ONLY BENEFIT FROM SPONSORING SPORT AND ATHELETES WHEN THERE IS A PUBLIC PERCEPTION THAT THE PROCESS IS CLEAN AND TRANSPARENT. ULTIMATELY THE PUBLIC WILL SEE THE SPONSORS AS BEING EITHER PART OF THE PROBLEM OR PART OF THE SOLUTION. THIS IS THE TIME FOR THE SPONSORS TO ACT, TO KEEP TENNIS CLEAN.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 09:27:32 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015