Tennis Ireland’s recruitment of CEO questioned

Former Irish national tennis champion Dave Miley has said that Tennis Ireland have not given him the information he requested pertaining to a selection process for the role of chief executive officer of the sport.

Miley was not offered the CEO role. Instead another candidate, Richard Fahey, was selected. Tennis Ireland announced Fahey's appointment last month and said he would begin working in his new role on January 9th.

Miley, in his only public statement, said that he was disappointed with the recruitment process conducted by Tennis Ireland and that copies of the marking sheets used during the interview process were not sent out to him despite his request for that to take place.

Miley’s issue has been referred to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and proceedings are scheduled to take place in early 2017.

“I am disappointed with the recruitment and selection process undertaken by Tennis Ireland. As a candidate, I decided to request transparency of the judging process as it pertained to the three interviews I attended. I therefore requested copies of the marking sheets and an explanation of the panel’s judging process,” said Miley in a statement.

Interview panel

“This request was made on the 20th of October. Tennis Ireland has yet to send the requested information. As Sport Ireland oversaw the recruitment process and had a representative on the interview panel, I asked that they discuss my queries and concerns at a board meeting on the 16th of November.”

Tennis Ireland made a brief response to a request for comment.

“We have had a data information request and Tennis Ireland are fully complying with that data request as per legislation,” said a spokesperson.

Miley said he was making his issue public because of media interest and because of numerous requests to conduct interviews. He added that he would not be making any more public statements until after the WRC proceedings.

“To date, I have chosen not to comment despite numerous requests from journalists to do so,” he said.

Miley is experienced in developing tennis on the world stage and worked with the ITF for 17 years, where he held the position of ITF director of tennis development.

In his CV he outlines that he managed a department of 76 staff with an annual budget of approximately €9.5 million.

Fahey previously worked in an executive role in the Football Association of Ireland and has experience in helping to develop grassroots football around Ireland.

Retiring

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

“Although I am based in the UK, I have been made aware that many former and current top Irish players and coaches and many people from the wider tennis community have voiced concerns about the process surrounding the recent CEO appointment,” added Miley

“I also understand that a significant number of clubs have written to Tennis Ireland about the matter and have stated their intention to call an EGM if their questions about the recruitment process are not answered satisfactorily. I can confirm that I have not been involved in any of these actions.

“As stated above, I intend to make no further comment on this matter prior to the WRC proceedings.”