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The Tennis Integrity Unit has posted warning signs throughout the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with the headline "Important. Player Notice. Twitter Warning."
The signs are directed at players, coaches, agents, family members, and tournament staff - and point out that Twitter messages could violate the sport's anti-corruption code.
"We take our anti-gambling procedures very seriously," stated tournament spokesman Chris Widmaier last Friday. "We are in full agreement with this recommendation from the Tennis Integrity Unit."
In 2008, the Tennis Integrity Unit was created to police anti-corruption following an investigation of match-fixing. At the same time, the ATP, WTA, ITF and Grand Slam committee adopted a universal anti-corruption code to ensure consistent guidelines and penalties across the sport.
Twitter arrived on the online social networking scene in 2006, and gained it's popularity by creating a means for fans to follow their favorite celebrities via comments consisting of 140 characters or less. Celebrity athletes post coments on a wide spectrum of topics, but the one of most concern to tennis officials is injury updates and other so-called "inside information" and their impact on gambling.
2009 tournament players and US Open titleholders Serena Williams and Andy Roddick are both actively involved in the trend, with hundreds of thousands of fans as followers.
Bottom line...better watch what you tweet!
For more info: Visit the tournament's website at www.usopen.org
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