Source :- THE AGE NEWS
London: Outgoing Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley says he would not change anything about his role in Novak Djokovic’s deportation saga and never feared he would lose his high-powered job.
In an exclusive interview with this masthead before Tiley leaves to begin his new role as the United States Tennis Association’s CEO, he discussed Djokovic, the COVID-19 pandemic, his successor Andrew Abdo’s greatest challenge and whether Serena Williams will play at the US Open.
The Australian Open transformed into one of the world’s largest sporting and entertainment events under Tiley’s leadership, including record-breaking crowds of almost 1.4 million attending this past January.
Tiley will also forever be remembered for the strict measures he put in place to keep the Open going throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but also for Djokovic’s infamous deportation four years ago.
Immigration minister Alex Hawke decided to deport the tennis legend, who chose not to be vaccinated, because of concern he could fuel anti-vaccination sentiment.
“I wouldn’t have done anything differently because that’s what was in front of us. The rules changed overnight, so we got caught in the crosshairs of that – and that was proved,” Tiley told this masthead.
“Novak, by the way, went to court, and in that court case, he was cleared, and he would have played, but then a minister decided to deport him. From the beginning, I was on Novak’s side because, in my view, he did what was asked of him.”
Tiley received significant criticism at the time and was also the target of death threats. He found the blowback on his family the most difficult, but he never felt his job was under threat.
“No one’s ever asked me that question, but I have never been fearful of losing my job,” he said.
“I do the best I possibly can, and if people don’t like it, I’ll go and do it somewhere else. There was [a lot of criticism at the time] because they had to find a target. The federal government had to find a target other than themselves, and the state government had to do the same thing.
“I was a poor Charlie, sitting in front of everyone. All of a sudden, I was an expert on immigration and medical exemptions, and we did what we were told to do, and so I always knew we did the right thing.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Tiley also warned the Victorian government that the Australian Open remained at risk of being poached unless permanent structures were built at Melbourne Park.
He said his successor Abdo’s greatest challenge would be government relations, and restated his belief that the ex-NRL chief should be CEO of the entire Tennis Australia organisation, including being the face of the Australian Open, even if the tournament director title was abolished.
“I think it’s going to be around how do we unlock the potential in the precinct for further redevelopment. It’s never easy with government to progress that in a hasty way,” Tiley said.
“But unfortunately, the reality of where we are today with the Australian Open is unless we take some absolute, urgent action, it is going to be behind the eight-ball on permanent infrastructure.”
The 63-year-old South African powerbroker, who will be based in Orlando for his USTA job, said more than $40 million was spent each year on temporary, “pop-up” buildings for the Australian Open.
Tiley pointed at the permanent sponsor suites in place at Wimbledon and Roland-Garros, and what is being constructed at Flushing Meadows, which is undergoing a $US800 million ($1.2 billion) renovation, as evidence of what the Open was missing.
He wants to see sponsor and corporate hospitality suites built into Melbourne Park, as well as extra seats for fans and more structures to enhance the player experience.
Tiley said unless this happened soon there was a scenario where an Asian country – or even another Australian city – could convince TA, which owns the Australian Open, to relocate the grand slam.
“There’s an idea to do it, but if you talk about in eight years’ time, it’s too late. You’ve got to action it now,” he said. “We need to start putting a shovel in the ground yesterday, is my view.”
Tiley’s new job still leaves him in the middle of the biggest issue in professional tennis: a player-led push for a greater revenue share of grand slam profits – specifically up to 22 per cent by 2030 – among other demands, such as more welfare benefits.
Leading players, including world No.1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, limited their pre-tournament media access for the second straight major despite Wimbledon increasing prizemoney by 20 per cent.
Australia’s Alex de Minaur did not take part in the latest protest, which was supposed to last for the first week until discussions with tournament officials, as acknowledgment of the “big step” in the right direction.
Tiley hailed de Minaur’s actions as an “adult decision”, and noted he was not the only one to do that. He felt more players should have shown appreciation for Wimbledon’s prizemoney uplift and top-class facilities.
“I think the narrative coming out of that would have been really good to be, ‘Thanks’ and move on, but unfortunately, it was to continue to take action, which, of course, they retracted after the first day,” Tiley said.
“I’m an advocate for, yes, players should be paid more, but it needs to be done in a considered and sustainable way. These events also have a business to run, and there’s a certain amount in the dollar that has to be left over, to invest in growth, including building new facilities.”
Tiley could not confirm whether the USTA would match Wimbledon’s 20 per cent increase, and said each grand slam operated as an independent entity that did not “collude” on prizemoney discussions for legal reasons.
He was also not in a position yet to say whether 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams would continue her comeback tour at next month’s US Open. But Tiley’s assumption was the former world No.1 would play in New York.
“I was so excited about seeing Serena play here [at Wimbledon],” he said.
“We need to have the conversation, which we will, but I’d expect to see her continue to play because she did so well. I sat and watched that whole match, and I don’t often do that, from point to point, because I love watching Serena, for one, but it was so exciting to see Maya [Joint] battle her way through.”
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