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Leagues and Governing Bodies

What They're Saying ... Re: BBC/Buzzfeed Report On Match-Fixing In Tennis

The BBC and BuzzFeed News on Jan. 18 revealed evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing in int’l tennis. The report, which claimed that 16 top-50 players were suspected of throwing matches over the last decade, immediately made headlines around the globe. No suspected players were named, because, in the BBC’s words, “without access to their phone, bank and computer records it is not possible to determine whether they may have been personally taking part in match fixing.” One of the first people to speak out following the report was ATP President CHRIS KERMODE, who said the day after the report was published, “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.” The most recent development came on Monday, after bets totaling $55,645 were placed on a mixed doubles match at the Australian Open. In the match in question Lara Arruabarrena and David Marrero lost to Andrea Hlavackova and Lukasz Kubot by a score of 6-0 6-3. Such matches normally attract as little as $500 in betting. The players have been questioned by the TIU and Victoria Police are examining the matter.

A number of athletes and execs from both inside and outside the sport have weighed in over the last week, addressing everything from how widespread the problem is to whether it is appropriate that the sport’s governing bodies have lucrative sponsorship deals with gambling companies, but players cannot be sponsored by betting firms.

WHY TENNIS?

University of Sydney senior lecturer STEVE GEORGAKIS: "It's a one-on-one sport and what you do is, you're the favorite and you get a few other people to load up on the other player to win and then you throw the match. And you can never get caught" (REUTERS, 1/18).

Former ATP anti-corruption officer RICHARD INGS: "This is nothing new -- when I was involved, we were seeing matches with suspicious betting patterns on a regular basis. There’s a high risk of matches being fixed in tennis and it’s very easy for a player to fix a match without anyone else knowing. With so many matches taking place at so many levels of competition, and with literally billions of dollars being gambled on tennis each year, there’s money to be made by betting on the outcome of a match" (HERALD SCOTLAND, 1/18).

Financial Times reporter ROB MINTO wrote, "Tennis match-fixing is in essence a battle of new technologies, which plays out online as well as on court. First, there is the betting. Bookmakers and betting exchanges allow bets on all sorts of elements of a tennis match: whether a player will win a set or not, total games, overall match odds" (FT, 1/18).

EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM

Andre Agassi
Former player ANDRE AGASSI: "I worry about that being a problem in any sport, because I think it poses an existential threat to the very fabric of what sports is about. I think every sport needs to take that incredibly seriously. ... In 21 years I played professionally, I can say, either based on my naiveté or my focus on trying to be the best in the world, that it never made my radar at any stage in those 21 years. So I don't know if I was unreachable, untouchable or just purely in my own world, but it never even made my radar, whatsoever" (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, 1/20).

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: "From my knowledge and information about match-fixing, there is nothing happening at the top level, as far as I know" (BBC, 1/19).

SERENA WILLIAMS: "When I'm playing, I can only answer for me. I play very hard, and every player I play seems to play hard" (BBC, 1/19).

An anonymous former South American player, who is now a coach, said, "This is like a secret on the tour that everybody knows, but we don't talk about it. We just see it and keep working. ... You know who is doing it and who is not. As a player, I know who is missing on purpose or returning a shot in the middle on purpose ... who is trying, and who is not. So we work on this. We know" (BBC, 1/19).

BACKING FROM GAMBLING FIRMS QUESTIONED

ANDY MURRAY: "I think it’s a little bit hypocritical, really. I don’t believe the players are allowed to be sponsored by betting companies but then the tournaments are. I don’t really understand how it all works. I think it’s a bit strange” (LONDON TIMES, 1/20).

Tennis Australia Commercial Dir RICHARD HEASELGRAVE: “Wagering is a legal recreational past-time in Australia and has long been associated with our event, in fact up to 2005 there was an onsite wagering presence. William Hill has a strong track record working with global sporting bodies and a significant aspect of this partnership is our capacity to work side-by-side to uphold the integrity and framework of the sport” (REUTERS, 1/19).

STANISLAS WAWRINKA: "Probably if they sponsor a sport, they are going to try everything to make sure there is no corruption. That can be something good for tennis also. Maybe the gambling companies can come to tennis and make sure there is no corruption, because they lose a lot of money when there is problem. For tennis, it's not good to have corruption. But for the gambling company neither. So I think it can be only positive” (REUTERS, 1/19).

KERMODE: “I don’t think it’s an issue and I think it can actually help at times. The Tennis Integrity Unit are working with betting companies all the time to spot corruption. The distinction to make is that betting itself is not an illegal pastime, and many people do bet on sport. What we are talking about is corruption” (LONDON TIMES, 1/20).

SEEKING A SOLUTION

U.K. Conservative MP DAMIAN COLLINS: “It would be good for tennis to come forward to the select committee to explain what it’s doing to address these terrible match-fixing allegations and to combat the problem as a whole” (LONDON TIMES, 1/20).

Malcolm Speed
Former Int’l Cricket Council CEO MALCOLM SPEED: “Part of the push from Australian sports is to have online, in-play betting legalized so as to minimize the attraction for Australian punters to bet with unregulated, offshore betting operators with whom the Australian sports do not have integrity agreements and the right of veto over bet types” (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/19).

ROGER FEDERER: “It's like who, what? It's like thrown around. It's so easy to do that. I would like to hear the name. I would love to hear names. Then at least it's concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it. Was it the player? Was it the support team? Who was it? Was it before? Was it a doubles player, a singles player? Which slam? It's so all over the place. It's nonsense to answer something that is pure speculation” (London DAILY MIRROR, 1/18).

Former player JOHN NEWCOMBE: “They should be put out of the game for life. It’s like a cancer. If you don’t stop it, it’s going to grow. There’s too much temptation there to do it and crooked people offering a lot of money for players to do that. All right, fine, if they want to do it and they get caught, they’ve got to be out for life. No suspension, just out” (HERALD SUN, 1/18).

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