updated 8:18 p.m. ET Feb. 17, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - WTA Tour players’ parents, agents, coaches and other entourage members must agree to allow criminal background checks if they want full access at tournaments.

The new policy goes into effect Monday, when events start in Doha, Qatar, and Bogota, Colombia. It’s part of a broader effort to protect players’ safety and security.

“There’s some more inconvenience or some more scrutiny, which I think some people don’t like,” tour CEO Larry Scott said in a telephone interview Sunday. “But I think there’s a recognition that leading professional sports bodies, especially those dealing with young women like we are, have to do everything possible to ensure a safe environment for the players.”

Other elements of what the tour called in a press release a “comprehensive initiative to enhance player safety, health and well-being” include more education programs and the appointment about a year ago of what Scott called “someone akin to a security officer.”

A task force was set up to look into these issues about two years ago.

“Suffice to say there are some things that happened on the tour previously that caused me some concern,” Scott said, without going into detail.

Around the time of a tournament at San Diego in August 2005, tour player Evgenia Linetskaya reportedly was taken to a hospital. Her coach, Joseph Giuliano, later was barred for life by the tour, and her father, Simon Linetskiy, was banned for two years.

The WTA said its new background-check policy is similar to what already is done at the U.S. Open and Australian Open. People seeking credentials for secure player areas need to sign an agreement saying they consent to the checks.

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