Pinnacle Sports, one of the world's largest gambling websites, yesterday "suspended betting" for a mixed doubles match at the Australian Open, "raising suspicions of match fixing at one of the world’s most prestigious tennis tournaments," according to a front-page piece by Rothenberg & Glanz of the N.Y. TIMES. Pinnacle Head of Sportsbook Marco Blume said that ahead of a first-round match pitting Lara Arruabarrena and David Marrero against Andrea Hlavackova and Lukasz Kubot, "large amounts of money poured in on what would normally be an obscure contest." He added that nearly all of the money "came down for Hlavackova and Kubot, which he said was an indication that the match might be fixed." Hlavackova and Kubot won, 6-0, 6-3. Marrero "rejected any possibility of fixing," and Arruabarrena "cited a knee injury in explaining their performance." The activity "comes with the sport already under intense international scrutiny over possible match fixing." An ITF spokesperson said that the organization "had not been notified of any suspicious activity." She added that such information "would first go to the Tennis Integrity Unit, the sport’s internal watchdog." The police said that they "worked with Australian tennis officials throughout the tournament but would not confirm whether they had been alerted to the irregularities or were investigating this particular match." Blume said that Pinnacle "had seen no such betting behavior for any other match at this Australian Open" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/25).
PUBLICITY STUNT? In Sydney, Chammas & Bucci note former Betfair Head of Education Scott Ferguson believes Pinnacle Sports suspended betting in a "cheap grab at free publicity." Betfair and the tournament's betting partner, William Hill, "reported no suspicious activity on the match." Ferguson, who still works as a wagering industry consultant, believes Marrero "appears to have previously raised suspicion in regards to inside information, which is why Pinnacle chose to suspended the match he was involved in." Ferguson said, "Yes, this Marrero seems to have previous black marks for inside info on his injury, but their limits on this stuff are very small. ... (It) won't have cost them anything to switch the match off, contact a couple of journos, and here we go, watch our name get splashed everywhere across the globe" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 1/26).
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE? In London, Mike Dickson noted Wimbledon Chair Philip Brook has "flown into the Australian Open to join discussions about tennis’s approach towards match fixing." Topping the agenda in the next few days of meetings, always scheduled to take place around the second week of Grand Slam events, is "whether to increase funding" in view of the match-fixing allegations. One area "likely to be discussed is the appointment of a completely independent tennis outsider to review" the TIU and "assess whether more resources are required" (London DAILY MAIL, 1/24). ESPN.com's Peter Bodo wrote tennis "has a gambling problem," as it has "always been very attractive to gamblers." The current controversy "has provided an important wake-up call to tennis officials who might not have understood how deeply they've become entwined with gambling entities, and where those associations might lead." The commercial potential of a partnership between tennis and gambling entities is "becoming obvious, but so are the ethical issues inherent in the association." In fact, those "might just be emerging" (ESPN.com, 1/22).
BAD LOOK FOR THE SPORT: In N.Y., Mike Lupica wrote these stories about gambling and alleged match fixing "are a very big deal." Lupica: "All that separates the sports people care about -- and bet on -- from professional wrestling is this: The belief that what they are watching and we are watching and everybody is watching is on the level." Lupica asked, "You want to know why track and field isn’t as big a deal in the Olympics as it once was, in a country like ours that has always been so fascinated with running and jumping? Because drugs stole legitimacy from track and field the way drugs stole legitimacy from the baseball record books" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/24). Designer Tommy Hilfiger, who brought on Rafael Nadal as a face of his brand, said that he "hopes the allegations aren’t true." Hilfiger: “I know firsthand how hard these players work in training, traveling and in matches." He added, "Rafa is a great spokesperson for the brand and a true gentleman" (N.Y. POST, 1/23).
