Alexander Zverev will not be disciplined after ATP investigation into abuse allegations finds ‘inadequate proof’
The ATP introduced on Tuesday that it had concluded its 15-month investigation into abuse claims towards German tennis participant Alexander Zverev. Due to “insufficient evidence,” the ATP will not discipline Zverev at this time.
Following an exhaustive 15-month course of, LFG submitted its full report back to ATP. Based mostly on an absence of dependable proof and eyewitness stories, along with conflicting statements by [Olga] Sharypova, Zverev and different interviewees, the investigation was unable to substantiate the allegations of abuse, or decide that violations of ATP’s On-Web site Offenses or Participant Main Offenses guidelines passed off.
Because of this, no disciplinary motion towards Zverev shall be taken by ATP. This willpower might nevertheless be reevaluated ought to new proof come to gentle, or ought to any authorized proceedings reveal violations of ATP guidelines. Zverev has constantly denied all allegations and supported ATP’s investigation.
In Nov. 2020, 27 months in the past, Zverev’s ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova accused him of bodily and emotionally abusing her, particularly earlier than the 2019 US Open and throughout the 2019 Laver Cup. She detailed her abuse in an extensive interview with Racquet Magazine’s Ben Rothenberg, exhibiting him screenshots of WhatApp messages between her and pals through which she despatched descriptions and images of Zverev’s alleged abuse. The ATP finally introduced in Oct. 2021 that that they had opened an investigation, 11 months after they’d first been made public.
“Inadequate proof” is just not a willpower of guilt or innocence. It merely means the investigators, who will not be lively cops and can’t pressure anybody to talk with them or flip over supplies associated to the case, didn’t discover sufficient proof to warrant additional motion right now.
The ATP declined to launch any of the finished report.
In an announcement launched after the ATP’s announcement, Zverev, a former world No. 2, mentioned, “I’m grateful that that is lastly resolved and my precedence now’s recovering from harm and concentrating on what I really like most on this world — tennis.”
The place is the ATP’s home violence coverage?
Previous to the investigation into Zverev, the ATP had no home violence coverage. When requested about it after the accusations surfaced in Nov. 2020, all an ATP spokesperson might do was confer with a broad, amorphous coverage that requires gamers “to chorus from partaking in conduct opposite to the integrity of the sport of tennis,” which might embody prison prices or conduct that instantly damages the status of the game.
And now, with the Zverev investigation accomplished to their very own satisfaction, they nonetheless do not have a home violence coverage. One is likely to be coming, however the ATP was a bit of cagey about that of their official assertion.
“In October 2021, ATP commissioned an Unbiased Safeguarding Report, to make sure all adults and minors concerned in males’s skilled tennis are secure and protected against abuse. A hiring course of has not too long ago been accomplished to nominate a devoted head of Safeguarding, who will oversee implementation of the report’s suggestions.”