Leading tennis figures question process of appointing Tennis Ireland chief

Two emails have been sent to Sport Ireland (SI) and Tennis Ireland (TI) questioning the process Tennis Ireland used to select its new chief executive Richard Fahey.

The complaints, which arrived on Sunday to the sports bodies, came from a candidate, Dave Miley, who was in the running for the chief executive job and not selected and also from a high profile group of stakeholders involved in tennis, .

Both Miley and the group of players, former players and officials expressed their unease over the way the interview process was conducted.

The tennis CEO post has been vacant since Des Allen stood down in August after 20 years at the helm. Mr Allen had flagged months before that he was retiring from the post, so the arising vacancy had been known for quite some time.

Mr Fahey, who previously held an executive position in the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), was selected as Tennis Ireland’s new CEO and announced last Friday.

Sport Ireland yesterday confirmed that they had received an email saying a letter of protest had been sent about the issue, which is already dividing the sport.

“We have been informed a letter has been sent,” said a SI spokesman.

The letter – seen by The Irish Times – questions whether the selection process was carried out in an organised fashion and supports the candidate who was not selected, Mr Miley, who has a back ground in developing tennis for the International Tennis Federation.

The letter asks people involved in the sport to add their names to the protest in support of the challenge to the Tennis Ireland Board over how the process was organised and executed.

The letter does not state what outcome the stakeholders are seeking as Mr Fahey has been appointed, although it is thought that they are seeking an egm.

Mr Fahey, a respected figure in the FAI, has held a number of senior management posts over the past 15 years, most recently as Director of Club Licensing and Facility Development.

He is not expected to take up the chief executive position until January 9th 2017.