Does Anyone Care About The Huge Tennis Match Fixing Scandal Going On Right Now?
(Source) Secret files exposing evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of world tennis, including at Wimbledon, can be revealed by the BBC and BuzzFeed News. Over the last decade, 16 players who have ranked in the top 50 have been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they have thrown matches. All of the players, including winners of Grand Slam titles, were allowed to continue competing.
The TIU- which was set up to police the sport – said it had a zero-tolerance approach to betting-related corruption. Chris Kermode, who heads the Association of Tennis Professionals, rejected claims evidence of match-fixing had “been suppressed for any reason or isn’t being thoroughly investigated”. But he added: “While the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information.” The cache of documents passed to the BBC and Buzzfeed News include the findings of an investigation set up in 2007 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, the organisation Kermode heads.
Its job was to look into suspicious betting activity after a game involving Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello. Both players were cleared of violating any rules, but the investigation developed into a much wider enquiry looking into a web of gamblers linked to top-level players.
The documents we have obtained show the enquiry found betting syndicates in Russia, northern Italy and Sicily making hundreds of thousands of pounds betting on matches investigators thought to be fixed. Three of these matches were at Wimbledon. In a confidential report for the tennis authorities in 2008, the enquiry team said 28 players involved in these matches should be investigated, but the findings were never followed up. Tennis introduced a new anti-corruption code in 2009 but after taking legal advice were told previous corruption offences could not be pursued. “As a result, no new investigations into any of the players who were mentioned in the 2008 report were opened,” a TIU spokesman said.
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This is one of those stories that feels big, top 50 players including major championship winners being involved in match fixing, but just can’t move the needle for a regular guy that is a fan of the 4 major US sports. I get it, and if you’re a tennis junkie I’m sure it’s colossal news but I just can’t bring myself to care whatsoever. It’s one of those stories that people on twitter or radio will talk about to feel worldly, like they’re invested in every sport and the integrity of every game worldwide. But to be honest, the only reaction I had when I heard this news was anger. Not anger that Tennis has been ruined, anger that I’ve never gotten a tip on a fixed match. I can’t think of a more thrilling thing in the world than getting a rigged sporting event betting tip. Points being shaved in college basketball gets me so excited I get a little chill down my spine. Any time I think I have a horse that might be the guaranteed winner I can barely contain myself. I think I’ve told the story about how I wanted to try and rig the Women’s lingerie Super Bowl a few years back. Obviously it didn’t happen but the 10 minutes that we were discussing it were the greatest 10 minutes of my life. Shaving points, getting teams to take a dive or lay an egg, that’s fucking amazing. So no, I don’t care about Tennis match fixing but I do care about match fixing that I’m not involved in. Who do I have to call to get a tip like this? I feel like Rico may know a guy who knows a guy. Either way I think that’s my new life goal, somehow someway get a tip on a fixed game. That’s a story you lead with at the bar or a golf course. That’s a story that trumps everyone else’s story. Match fixing. Need it.