Tennis has been rocked by allegations of widespread match-fixing just hours ahead of the Australian Open.
Secret files leaked to BuzzFeed News and the BBC allegedly show evidence of match rigging amongst some of the world’s high-ranking players, including grand slam winners.
According to the report, authorities have been repeatedly warned about 16 players ranked in the top 50 who were suspected of throwing matches.
Half of the players are due to play at the first major of the year in Melbourne beginning on Monday and all of the players were allowed to continue competing despite continued warnings.
The match-fixing was orchestrated by gambling syndicates in Russia and Italy and involved prominent players and included three matches at Wimbledon.
The investigation is based on a cache of leaked documents from an enquiry set up by the ATP in 2007 to look into claims of match fixing and suspicious gambling.
“There was a core of about 10 players who we believed were the most common perpetrators that were at the root of the problem,” Mark Phillips, one of the betting investigators in the enquiry, told the BBC.
Phillips said the evidence which he gathered was as powerful as any he had seen in over 20 years as a betting investigator.
“The evidence was really strong. There appeared to be a really good chance to nip it in the bud and get a strong deterrent out there to root out the main bad apples,” he said.
None of the players involved have been named.
“It is quite clear from the results of my analysis that the ATP, and to a much lesser degree the WTA, have a problem with their payers ‘throwing’ matches,” said another investigator in the report.
Of the Russian group the investigator said, “When three or more of the Russian accounts trade on the same match there is a pattern of at least one Russian player being involved.
“There is no doubt in my mind that these accounts are in receipt of inside information, at the very least, regarding Russian players.”
Of the Northern Italian group of betters the investigator said there were at least 29 suspicious matches, mostly first round games from lowly ATP tournaments.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars were won from these matches.
The investigator was staggered by the bets the Sicilian group were putting on several matches.
“The betting patterns on some of these matches are nothing short of remarkable,” he said.
“There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that these Betfair account holders knew the result of this and many other matches before a ball had been struck.”
Indeed, the reports says the names of more than 70 players appear on nine leaked lists of suspected fixers who have been flagged up to the tennis authorities over the past decade without being sanctioned.
All of the players, including winners of Grand Slam titles, were allowed to continue competing.
Andy Murray, in action at the Australian Open on Tuesday in his first round clash against Alexander Zverev, tweeted links to the original article but did not make any comment on the findings.
Tennis Australia have been contacted but as yet have refused to comment on the report.
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Source: Yahoo