ALBANY, N.Y. -- The U.S. Tennis Association will increase
the number of women and minorities working as chair umpires at its
tournaments following an investigation into possible
discrimination.
The agreement was reached in late August but announced by the
state attorney general's office Thursday, days after the U.S. Open.
The decision "should help dispel any notion that women are
incapable of competently umpiring or officiating men's events,
which is so pervasive throughout professional sports," said
Juanita Scarlett, spokeswoman for Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Spitzer's office began an investigation of the USTA late last
year after complaints from current and former umpires.
Investigators found that while women chaired about half the
women's matches at the U.S. Open from 2003-05, only five women were
assigned to officiate at the 567 men's matches. No female umpire
was assigned to a later-round men's match while male umpires were
assigned to about 20 percent of the women's late-stage matches. The
investigation also found few minorities have been selected to
umpire at the U.S. Open.
The settlement requires the USTA to assign more women as chair
umpires to men's matches at the U.S. Open and other tournaments,
adopt anti-discrimination policies to make sure all officials have
the same opportunities to umpire matches and hire a consultant to
develop a nationwide program to boost the number of female and
minority chair umpires.
The USTA also will have to keep better records to let the
attorney general's office monitor compliance with the agreement.
"The USTA is continuing its long-standing commitment to
diversity in every aspect of the sport, by expanding its outreach
programs to on-court officials and chair umpires," the
organization said in a statement. "The officials outreach program
is designed to attract a broad pool of female and multicultural
candidates from which umpires may be recruited, trained and
selected to chair tennis events."
At the 2006 U.S. Open this month, Carlos Bernardes Jr. chaired
the men's final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, the first
time a black umpire chaired the finals since the 1970s.
Women chaired more than twice the number of men's matches this
year as last, including the semifinal between Federer and Nikolay
Davydenko, Spitzer's office said.