Fairweather Confirmed As ITF Ceo

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has promoted Chief Operating Officer Kelly Fairweather to the role of Chief Executive as part of a governance restructure.

The appointment has been confirmed after the ITF Board approved a governance taskforce proposal to separate the roles of President and CEO, which were historically held by a single person.

The proposal was a key part of the ITF2024 strategy roadmap overseen by Dave Haggerty, who was elected as the governing body’s President in 2015.

Fairweather will steer the ITF leadership team across the presidential; integrity and legal; major events and sports strategy; tours and pathway; and finance, IT and people divisions of the organisation.

“We have made great strides in making the ITF as open and transparent as possible,” Haggerty said. “We have introduced robust good governance procedures in our commitment to integrity, a key pillar of ITF2024. Kelly leads a very talented team at the ITF.

“Together with the ITF board and in collaboration with our regional affiliates and national members, we continue to work together to fulfil our mission to deliver a global sport which is sustainable and safe for all, both now and for future generations. This mission is at the heart of everything we do as an organisation.”

Before joining the ITF five years ago, Fairweather served as Chief Executive of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for nearly seven years.

Prior to that, he was Director of the European office and International Federation relations at the World Anti-Doping Agency, and he also had an eight-year spell at the International Olympic Committee, firstly as Group Manager of the Finance Department and then as Director of Sport.

Fairweather added, “The ITF is undergoing transformation in key areas. We are in a position to explore new avenues for growth and ways of interacting with our sport. Our global tennis data informs our strategy for the development of our sport, our business and our fanbase.

“These are challenging and exciting times, so we need to be bold. We have set ourselves the ambitious goal to report 120 million players on this planet by 2030.”