Da fix was in...
World tennis hit by match-fixing reports, authorities back integrity unit
Mon Jan 18, 2016 - World tennis was rocked on Monday by allegations that the game's authorities have failed to deal with widespread match-fixing, just as the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year, kicked off in Melbourne.
See also:
Tennis match fixing: Evidence of suspected match-fixing revealed
18 Jan.`16 - Secret files exposing evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of world tennis, including at Wimbledon, can be revealed by the BBC and BuzzFeed News.
World tennis hit by match-fixing reports, authorities back integrity unit
Mon Jan 18, 2016 - World tennis was rocked on Monday by allegations that the game's authorities have failed to deal with widespread match-fixing, just as the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year, kicked off in Melbourne.
Tennis authorities rejected reports by the BBC and online BuzzFeed News, which said 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. Eight of those players were taking part in the Australian Open, the BBC and BuzzFeed News said. The media reports, which follow corruption scandals in world soccer and athletics, created a stir at the event at Melbourne Park, with players expressing surprise at the allegations. "When I'm playing, I can only answer for me, I play very hard, and every player I play seems to play hard," women's world number one Serena Williams told reporters. "If that's going on, I don't know about it."
Men's world number seven Kei Nishikori of Japan said he had not heard of any incidence of match-fixing. The BBC and BuzzFeed News said the TIU, set up to police illegal activities in tennis, either failed to act upon information that identified suspicious behavior amongst players, or impose any sanctions. All of the 16 players, including winners of grand slam titles, were allowed to continue competing, the media reports added.
Raindrops are seen on an umbrella at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London
TIU director of integrity Nigel Willerton told reporters in Melbourne he would not comment on whether any players on the pro tour were under investigation, saying it would be inappropriate to do so. Reuters was unable to independently verify the findings by the BBC and BuzzFeed News, which said they had obtained documents that included the findings of an investigation set up in 2007 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body of men's professional tennis.
The BBC and BuzzFeed News said they had not named any players because without access to their phone, bank and computer records it was not possible to determine whether they took part in match-fixing. "The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated," said ATP chairman Chris Kermode. "While the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information," Kermode told a hastily arranged media conference at Melbourne Park.
BETTING SYNDICATES
See also:
Tennis match fixing: Evidence of suspected match-fixing revealed
18 Jan.`16 - Secret files exposing evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of world tennis, including at Wimbledon, can be revealed by the BBC and BuzzFeed News.
Over the last decade, 16 players who have ranked in the top 50 have been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they have thrown matches. All of the players, including winners of Grand Slam titles, were allowed to continue competing. The TIU- which was set up to police the sport - said it had a zero-tolerance approach to betting-related corruption. Chris Kermode, who heads the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the body that governs world tennis, rejected claims evidence of match-fixing had "been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated".
But he added: "While the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information." The cache of documents passed to the BBC and Buzzfeed News include the findings of an investigation set up in 2007 by the ATP. Its job was to look into suspicious betting activity after a game involving Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello. Both players were cleared of violating any rules, but the investigation developed into a much wider enquiry looking into a web of gamblers linked to top-level players.
The documents we have obtained show the enquiry found betting syndicates in Russia, northern Italy and Sicily making hundreds of thousands of pounds betting on matches investigators thought to be fixed. Three of these matches were at Wimbledon. In a confidential report for the tennis authorities in 2008, the enquiry team said 28 players involved in these matches should be investigated, but the findings were never followed up. Tennis introduced a new anti-corruption code in 2009 but after taking legal advice were told previous corruption offences could not be pursued.
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