Integrity review to take at least a year to investigate alleged corruption in tennis

London: An independent review panel (IRP) will take at least a year to investigate allegations of corruption in tennis and the effectiveness of existing procedures, the sport`s governing bodies said on Friday.

"While there is no fixed deadline for the IRP to complete its independent review, it is expected that the full review will take at least 12 months with the publication of an Interim Report during that time," they said in a statement.

The terms of reference and protocols of the panel were announced by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the Women`s Tennis Association (WTA), the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Grand Slam Board.

Tennis was rocked by match-fixing allegations before last month`s Australian Open.

The BBC and online BuzzFeed News reported that 16 players who have been ranked in the top 50 had been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they had thrown matches in the past decade.

"The IRP will review the effectiveness and appropriateness of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP), the Tennis Integrity Unit and the Tennis Integrity Protection Programme (TIPP) and recommend any suggested changes," the statement said.