Review Finds No Corruption In Tennis, But Eyes Suspicious Matches
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Tennis Panel Recommends 45 Matches Be
Reviewed For Unusual Betting Patterns |
Former London police officers Jeff Rees and Ben Gunn, in an "independent review of possible match fixing in professional tennis," recommended that "45 matches played in the last five years be investigated because betting patterns gave a strong indication that gamblers were profiting from inside information," according to Joe Drape of the N.Y. TIMES. Rees and Gunn, who have "worked on anticorruption programs in other sports," were commissioned by the Int'l Tennis Foundation, the ATP, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Wimbledon and the Australian, French and U.S. Opens to "assess the sport's integrity." Each of the sport's governing bodies "embraced all 15 recommendations in the report -- including the creation of a global tennis integrity unit -- and said the recommendations would be implemented as soon as possible." Grand Slam committee Administrator Bill Babcock: "We are pleased that they found no endemic corruption in the sport and no evidence of Mafia or organized-crime involvement. It's a bill of health and a warning to be alert and don't be complacent." The report "did not name the players involved or provide details of the 45 suspicious matches," but it did indicate that "detailed information was turned over to tennis officials with a strong push for them to investigate the matches thoroughly." The report stated, "The initial assessment of those matches, supported by other intelligence, indicates that a number of account holders are successfully laying higher-ranked players to lose/backing lesser-ranked players to win. The betting patterns give a strong indication that those account holders are in receipt of 'inside information,' which has facilitated successful betting coups both on 'in-play' as well as 'match' betting" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/20).
BREAK POINT: The report also stated, "Whilst professional tennis is neither institutionally nor systematically corrupt, it is potentially at a crossroads. There is sufficient cause for concern about the integrity of some players and those outside tennis who seek to corrupt them." The report said of external involvement in match-fixing, "We do not doubt that criminal elements may be involved in seeking to subvert or corrupt some players or players' support staff; that may even involve organized criminal gangs, but to elevate that suspicion to a claim of 'Mafia' involvement is, in our view, a distortion of the facts and is positively damaging to the sport." Additionally, one of the report's 15 recommendations was "any player caught cheating should be punished by a lengthy suspension for a first offense and, if the circumstances merit it, a life ban." The report also examines the practice of "tanking," which it defines as "a player not giving 'best efforts.'" The report urges officials to "be alert to such activity and to deal with it as a break of the rules whenever such behavior can be proved." The report also suggests that "only players and essential tournament personnel to have access to the locker rooms at tournaments" (USA TODAY, 5/20).
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