Tennis match fixing: ‘We’re not sitting on evidence’

An investigation by BuzzFeed News and the BBC shined a light on an alleged match-fixing scandal in world tennis.

The reports say the players – it doesn’t identify them or say whether they were involved in singles or doubles – were allowed to continue competing.

Mark Phillips is a betting analyst who worked on an investigation set up by the Association of Tennis Professionals in 2008 to look into suspicious gambling activities on tennis matches. The two 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.

While most of the players revealed to have been involved in fixed matches go unnamed in the report, there are a number of alarming allegations, with the biggest being that tennis officials have largely ignored the mountain of evidence against a number of players.

Tennis authorities introduced a new anti-corruption code in 2009 but after taking legal advice were told previous corruption offenses could not be pursued, they added.

He was asked to confirm or deny whether any current players on the tour or at the 2016 Australian Open were the subject of TIU investigations, however he refused to disclose any information. In one case, the integrity unit was sent four alerts about a particular player and warned to take note of his “relentless abuse”. None of them were disciplined.

The news organisations were passed the documents by anonymous whistleblowers inside the world of tennis.

It’s a huge story, following years of investigation.

“The evidence was really strong”.

“The evidence was really strong”.

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic waves as she arrives at Rod Laver Arena to play Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand in their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 18, …

“And while the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information, and we always do”. What happens is that information and intelligence are given to the integrity unit and they then have to turn that into evidence.

“We also work closely with law enforcement because the tennis anti-corruption program does mirror criminal offences, but we are not law enforcement”.

It’s the first time Gunn had publicly spoken about his concerns.

“I can assure you that tennis is not treating this lightly”, ATP chief Chris Kermode told Buzzfeed.

About 50 matches involving suspicious betting were flagged for TIU in 2015 alone – about one per week.

The TIU did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment. Davydenko forfeited the game due to injury, and Betfair voided all bets on the match.