Most of the fixed matches were in lower-ranked, rarely-televised tournaments.GETTY IMAGES
Federal prosecutors said that Belgium detained 13 people in raids over an investigation into "suspected match-fixing in the lower ranks of professional tennis," according to Bartunek & Herman of REUTERS. A criminal organization with ties in Belgium and Armenia has reportedly been "bribing professional tennis players" since '14 to fix matches, letting the criminals "rake in profits by placing bets." Prosecutors said that the fixed matches were "usually in lower-ranked, rarely televised tournaments such as the Futures and Challenger circuits," where it was "easier to bribe players." The Tennis Integrity Unit said that it was "aware of and has supported Belgian police action taken in relation to alleged tennis match-fixing offences." Belgian investigators cooperated with counterparts in Germany, France, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Netherlands and the U.S. (REUTERS, 6/5). The AFP reported prosecutors said that the bribing was done "in order to obtain a pre-arranged match result with the aim of betting on these fixed matches based on insider information, thereby fraudulently boosting winnings." A judge will decide later on "what further action to take against the 13 who have been held." The suspects mostly fit the same profile, prosecutors said -- "no income, no job and facing financial problems." They would be given money to bet on lower-division matches where prize money was around $5,000-$15,000. Belgian authorities, first alerted to suspicious betting activity in '15, said that the criminal network "would not shrink from violence" and used its contacts to move large sums of money abroad anonymously (AFP, 6/5).
