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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Tennis Faces 'Serious Integrity Problem,' Independent Report Finds

An independent review panel found professional tennis to be engulfed in a "tsunami" of match-fixing.GETTY IMAGES

Professional tennis is engulfed in a "tsunami" of match-fixing, with lower-level events providing a "fertile breeding ground" for corruption from online gambling, a multi-million pound independent review revealed, according to Luke Brown of the London INDEPENDENT. The Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis, which was established in Feb. '16 following "wide-ranging" reports of match-fixing, claimed the sport faces a "serious integrity problem" but found no evidence of any top-level players being implicated. The report also shows no evidence of a cover-up by either the Tennis Integrity Unit, the ITF or the ATP. However, some of the actions taken by the ITF and ATP were deemed to be "inappropriate or ineffective." The report said, "Integrity issues have not reached a significant level at Grand Slam events, ATP or WTA Tour events, WTA $125k events, or ITF women's $60k and $100k events." Instead, the interim review, which was based on more than 1,000 interview with players and officials in the sport and cost almost £20M ($27.9M) to fund, said that the biggest problems were to be found at the "lower and middle levels of the sport," especially in the men’s game (INDEPENDENT, 4/25).

'GRIMMER THAN GRIM': In London, Simon Briggs reported as part of a 33-page list of recommendations, the independent review panel, which was led by Adam Lewis QC, argued that tennis "will need to beef up its investigative powers substantially, while also cancelling lucrative data deals that allow punters to bet on low-level events." As a sport, tennis pledged to implement Lewis' proposals at the outset of this investigation. There is "still much to concern tennis' authorities in the shadowy reality of Futures events," which are "often played for such tiny stakes that you can win a $15,000 event without making a profit once living costs are factored in." These tournaments account for three-quarters of tennis' "so-called professional game" in terms of matches played. One of the panel's "most urgent recommendations" is that scoring data should no longer be sold to online betting companies. The report quotes one betting operator who addressed the state of play at the lower levels of the game by saying that "the situation in tennis is grimmer than grim" and identified a "match-fixing 'season'" that runs from October until the end of the year (TELEGRAPH, 4/25). Also in London, Stuart Fraser reported Lewis believes that a "questionable" decision was made by the ITF in '12, when it decided to supply official live-scoring data to Sportradar in return for "an eight-figure sum over four years." It resulted in betting firms being able to offer "a plethora of in-play markets at third-tier Futures tournaments, increasing the possibilities for fixing." Wimbledon, in its submission to the panel, said that the Sportradar agreement was causing "significant problems." Lewis agreed and recommended that the sale of official live-scoring data for Futures tournaments be discontinued. Another recommendation "is that betting sponsorships in tennis are completely eliminated." Again, Wimbledon "played its part in pushing for this," revealing that it unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Australian Open not to enter an agreement with William Hill before the '16 tournament (LONDON TIMES, 4/25).

'NO SIMPLE SOLUTION': In London, Sean Ingle reported the investigation surveyed more than 3,200 tennis players and found that 14.5% indicated they had firsthand knowledge of match-fixing. Another 16.4% of respondents had firsthand knowledge of a player betting on tennis. Umpires were also "sometimes involved." Under the terms of the Sportradar deal, umpires must immediately update the scoreboard after each point using their official IBM tablets. However, umpires "deliberately delayed updating the scores for up to 60 seconds," allowing gamblers to place bets "knowing what was going to happen next" (GUARDIAN, 4/25). In Sydney, Courtney Walsh reported Lewis warned there was "no simple solution or panacea" and that fundamental change is required to "weed out corruption in tennis." He described the lower tiers of tennis as a "lamentably fertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity." Lewis declared that tennis had tolerated "underperforming or tanking" for too long, which "played a part in corruption creeping into the sport" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 4/25). REUTERS' Neil Robinson wrote the report "paints a picture of financial privation among many of the sport's 15,000 professionals, with many at the lowest level struggling to cover the costs of competing." This, the report said, made betting on matches "more attractive to players" (REUTERS, 4/25).

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