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Disgraced former umpire Soeren Friemel will return to tennis on the US Open – simply six months after he stood down as head of officiating on the Worldwide Tennis Federation.
Friemel, a 50-year-old German, stop his position on the ITF in February, lower than a fortnight after Telegraph Sport revealed that he was serving a 12-month suspension for harassing a youthful male umpire.
But, nearly as quickly as Friemel’s ban elapsed on June 18, a very completely different group of directors at america Tennis Affiliation have employed him again as one in all six US Open supervisors working below event referee Wayne McKewen, a speedy return which is inflicting rising concern within the officiating world.
Friemel had beforehand served as US Open referee in 2019 and 2020.
“There might hardly be a higher demonstration of why tennis officiating must be unified, quite than having a number of completely different groups run by the three skilled excursions and 4 grand slams,” mentioned one insider, who most popular to not be recognized.
Friemel’s former ITF place has now been break up into two completely different roles – a call that Kris Dent, the ITF’s head {of professional} tennis, mentioned was meant to cut back the quantity of energy concentrated within the arms of anyone official.
On Thursday, the ITF introduced Iain Smith as its new head of officers and Andrew Nicholas-Wynne as head of officiating compliance.
In response to Andrew Jarrett – who served as Wimbledon referee from 2006 to 2019 – “Iain Smith’s appointment is a begin as he’ll signify all officers’ pursuits and never just some. Nonetheless, he’ll nonetheless must take care of the divided world of officiating with all of its vested pursuits.
“I nonetheless anticipate there to be a closing of ranks, the safety of the few, and the hope that the present focus [on the problematic issues that lie under the apparently serene surface of tennis officiating] will all die down. The world officers, gamers and most of the people deserve higher than this.”
The choice to convey Friemel again in a senior position at subsequent month’s US Open is known to have annoyed different officers employed by the USTA. In 2019, when Friemel succeeded long-serving Brian Earley as US Open referee, the USTA umpires wrote to the then USTA president Patrick Galbraith to object to his appointment – and that was earlier than the newer revelations about harassment.
In that letter, which was despatched to Galbraith in July 2019, the USTA umpires state that “In his earlier position as Chief Umpire on the US Open, Mr Friemel has established a observe file of selling non-US umpires over US umpires.”
The letter then lists 11 certified American referees who might have been chosen for the US Open position, earlier than concluding “So given the present certified USTA employees members, Mr Friemel’s battle of curiosity along with his full time place, the big variety of certified US referees and the disregard for our personal USTA Laws … these are simply a number of the explanation why USTA officers don’t endorse the hiring of Mr. Friemel because the US Open Referee.”
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