ITF posts $5.5m deficit as it awaits CAS decision on Billie Jean King Cup

International Tennis Federation (ITF) has posted a second consecutive annual deficit, as COVID-19 continued to cast a long shadow.

The ITF said that the pandemic had cost it $75.2 million (£64.3 million/€75 million) in revenues over two years.

Aggregate income across 2020 and 2021 amounted to $102.2 million (£87.4 million/€102 million), so this amounts to a hefty hit.

At the end of 2021, nonetheless, the body’s reserves totalled $44.4 million (£38 million/€44.4 million) – an adequate level.

The overall deficit was down somewhat from 2020, at $5.5 million (£4.7 million/€5.5 million) versus $6.9 million (£5.9 million/€6.9 million).

Annual income recovered to $66.6 million (£56.9 million/€66.5 million), nearly double the previous year’s $35.6 million (£30.4 million/€35.6 million), though still well below 2019’s $88.7 million (£75.8 million/€88.6 million).

The Davis Cup licence fee accounted for $19.7 million (£16.8 million/€19.7 million) of this.

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The men’s team competition took two years to complete and was won by a Russian Tennis Federation team.

The women’s counterpart, the Billie Jean King Cup, was also played over two years, and was also won by the Russian Tennis Federation, with the finals being played last November in Prague.

The hosting fee contributed only $3 million (£2.57 million/€3 million) to the ITF’s 2021 income, down from $5 million (£4.275 million/€5 million) in 2020.

René Stammbach, chairman of the ITF’s finance committee, attributed this to termination of the original contract to host the event in Budapest.

Notes to the new ITF accounts reveal that the ITF filed a request for arbitration with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

A hearing is said to have taken place after the balance-sheet date, but no decision had been communicated by the time the financial statements were signed.

The note states that there are “a range of potential outcomes from the hearing”.

These include “a contingent liability up to a maximum of $8 million (£6.8 million/€8 million) and a contingent asset up to a maximum of $52 million (£44.5 million/€52 million)”.

Total expenses surged to $76.7 million (£65.6 million/€76.6 million) in 2021, up from $47.5 million (£40.6 million/€47.5 million) a year earlier, with the professional game absorbing $45.5 million (£38.9 million/€45.5 million).

Stammbach said that $21.7 million (£18.6 million/€21.7 million) of receipts were received in 2021 from the International Olympic Committee relating to the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A further estimated $2.7 million (£2.3 million/€2.7 million) was expected after the year-end.

Only $8.8 million (£7.5 million/€8.8 million) of this total was included in the ITF’s 2021 income, with the remaining $15.6 million (£13.3 million/€15.6 million) set to be released in 2022 and 2023.