Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said he believes the sport is "doing good work around dealing with corruption issues and match-fixing" despite the recent BBC/Buzzfeed report. Appearing yesterday on Tennis Channel, Tiley said, "We absolutely do not tolerate it and have had the Tennis Integrity Unit in place since 2006. They’ve done some good work in stamping out any of this.” He added, "What I am comfortable with, and what the leadership group in tennis is comfortable with, (is) we’ve got a great group of people that have been on top of it for a long time" ("Tennis Channel Live," Tennis Channel, 1/18). In N.Y., Christopher Clarey writes the "constructive question at this stage is whether the TIU is functioning as effectively and ethically as it should at a time when gambling on tennis continues to grow." Former ATP Exec VP/Rules & Competition Richard Ings said, "Suspicious betting patterns happen weekly. Some can be explained by injury or illness or lethargy. Others can’t be. Fixing happens. It’s too easy, too lucrative and too tough to prove for it not to. It happens at all levels. The focus is, is the TIU resourced right with on-site systems?” Clarey notes the BBC/Buzzfeed report "makes the case that the Tennis Integrity Unit needs work, lots of work -- that it has failed to pursue suspicious cases aggressively and that it lacks the resources to do a difficult job comprehensively." But there are "clearly legitimate concerns about resources." ATP Vice Chair & Chief Legal Officer Mark Young said that the "annual budget for the unit" is $2M. It has six investigators whose job is to "cover a truly global sport in which about 120,000 professional matches are played annually" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/19).
MURRAY NOT SURPRISED: USA TODAY's Nick McCarvel reported Andy Murray "was not surprised" by the recent match-fixing allegations. However, Murray said that he was "disappointed to have read some of what he did in the report, saying that tennis’ top officials and governing bodies needed to be more proactive in educating its players of the inner-workings of such processes." He did seem surprised "by the scope of the alleged fixing." Murray: “I didn't know that so many matches had been flagged up with the betting companies. I knew that there had been some, but not as many as there were. That was it" (USATODAY.com, 1/18). In London, Jack de Menezes notes Murray "believes that more needs to be done lower down the ranks in order to prevent those who could be lured in by the financial rewards that match-fixing offer from becoming corrupt." Murray said, "It is important from a young age that players are better educated and made aware of what they should do in those situations and how a decision (to match fix) can affect your career and the whole sport" (London INDEPENDENT, 1/19).
BURDEN OF PROOF: Former tennis player Greg Rusedski in a special to the London TELEGRAPH writes he believes "in the integrity of tennis." Rusedski: "It is one of the cleanest sports out there, in which the authorities do a fantastic job." His "instant reaction" to the report was for those alleging match fixing to "prove it." Rusedski: "Name me the names. Show me the proof and let’s get on with this and get it done if this is the truth of the matter" (London TELEGRAPH, 1/19). Player Ernests Gulbis echoed comments made by Roger Federer in that he "wants names" to be disclosed. Gulbis: “They didn’t name one name. If someone is cheating, give me one name. I see no point in talking about it. Everyone is stressed out, but there is no names or nothing. I can say for myself that no one has ever approached me" (USATODAY.com, 1/18). Tennis Channel's Jon Wertheim said he wants some "specifics" regarding the report. Wertheim: "Who are these people? What were the circumstances? ... These are personal brands here, this is integrity. We need to be really sure that we are making these allegations accurately.” Tennis Channel's Martina Navratilova: "If you don’t have any specifics, this is just smoke and mirrors. I also question the timing of this report. The authorities are sitting on this report. ... This could have been done much, much longer ago" ("Tennis Channel Live," Tennis Channel, 1/18).
CAT'S OUT OF THE BAG: The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly writes players like Federer and Gulbis are "right and wrong." Names would "put this story to the test," but even without them, people will "still talk about it" obsessively. Every odd or lopsided result in a major tournament "may now be held up for scrutiny and debate." No one "in the tennis power structure -- and that includes the major media -- is going to say much about it past this week." It is "neither fair nor wise to speculate when people’s livelihoods and good names hang in the balance." Kelly: "The names will be out there. They may not be the right names or guilty names. But there will be names" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/19). ESPN Radio’s Mike Greenberg said tennis officials “need to get out in front of this now.” Greenberg: "They can’t pretend that this is just something no one is talking about. They have to get out and tell everybody what they know, and wherever the shrapnel falls, that’s where it’s got to wind up” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 1/19).
WHO TO TRUST? In London, Matt Dickinson notes the "initial response from the ATP to the startling match-fixing exposé was a classic of mealy-mouthed flannel, with a dash of irritation." Dickinson: "If we have learnt anything over the past 18 months of dirty rotten scandal, it is that cheating is as old as sport itself but corruption ... is more rife than ever. It feels like an epidemic. We have learnt also that governing bodies -- from the IOC to FIFA, the UCI to the IAAF and, yes, the tennis authorities too -- cannot be trusted to police their own sports when they are so conflicted by their role as promoters." Their mantra is to "sell 'the product' to the world, harnessing ever-growing sponsorship and broadcast deals." But the TIU is "funded by the tennis governing bodies and refers its findings to them for consideration before charges are pressed, which throws up obvious questions about the integrity of the process" (LONDON TIMES, 1/19).
