In an announcement made yesterday, the International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty said that Kelly Fairweather will join ITF Executive Management team as the Chief Operating Officer effective 1 January 2017. Fairweather is currently Chief Executive Officer of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
Speaking about the new development, Haggerty said, “The ITF is excited to have Kelly join us in the role of Chief Operating Officer. Kelly’s extensive experience in the Olympic movement as well as his in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by international federations made him the perfect candidate to help the ITF fulfil its mission to develop, grow and promote tennis around the world. We have an ambitious agenda as part of ITF 2024 and we know that Kelly’s experience will help us to achieve our goals.”
Kelly, who’s been associated with FIH for last six years, has worked with the International Olympic Committee as their Sports Director, World Anti Doping Agency as their Director Europe and IF Relations other than chairing the ASOIF Working Group, Olympic Games and Multisport. Fairweather, 55, was the Chief Executive of the Sports Performance Institute of Stellenbosch University from 2007-08.
Excited about his new role, Fairweather said, “I look forward to joining the ITF as Chief Operating Officer in January.”
Adding further about his association with the International Tennis Federation, Kelly said, “It is a federation that I know well having worked with them during my time as IOC Director of Sport and I have admired how they have grown in stature in the Olympic movement. The ambitious agenda of Dave Haggerty for the future of the ITF and its flagship competitions, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, has great appeal to me and I look forward to working with him to make ITF 2024 a reality.”
The South African’s contract with FIH is scheduled to expire at the end of this year and he has opted to not extend his contract in order to pursue “new professional challenges”.