TENNIS – Revelations made by La Gazzetta Dello Sport send Italian tennis in shock. There are many players involved, but the two main targets of the investigation seem to be Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace. The investigation is ongoing, but the public prosecutor has confirmed that the conversations are authentic.
The investigation by the public prosecutor’s office of Cremona (a town less than 100 km away from Milan) that started in 2011 on match fixing in football matches has progressed and the analysis of the computers owned by the people investigated have revealed more than 100 names of various sports who are involved in the inquiry. Among these names there are two tennis players, Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace, who have allegedly thrown matches to order. The two players, who have played for Italy in the Davis Cup, also mention other players like Simone Bolelli, Andreas Seppi, Filippo Volandri, Giorgio Galimberti and Federico Liuzzi.
In a Skype chat of 2007 Bracciali and Bruni (a key member of the betting syndicate investigated) they discuss explicitly of fixing the result of the match at Newport between the Italian player and Scoville Jenkins. Bracciali isn’t convinced he can arrange the deal as he does not know Jenkins, but they discuss the cost of his match fixing. Jenkins won that match 6-1, 6-2.
Another match under scrutiny is the final of the 2011 Casablanca tournament between Starace and Andujar that was won by the Spaniard 6-1, 6-2. In a conversation recorded before the match, the owner of a betting agency, Massimo Erodiani, talks to a someone identified as Corradino about the Italian player. The owner of the agency aims that Starace has given a cheque to guarantee his bet and they also talk about Montanes doing the same the previous day in the semifinals earning 1.5 million euro.
In another chat Bracciali discusses approaching other players including Simone Bolelli, but that failed as Bolelli’s coach at the time, Claudio Pistolesi, would not agree. The investigation will proceed in the next months and other sports like basketball appear to be involved. At the moment there is nothing official from the prosecutor’s office apart from a confirmation that the conversations published by the newspapers are true. Asked if other non-Italian players are involved, Roberto Di Martino, the prosecutor leading the inquiry, said “I can’t rule that out, but I can’t say anything”.
Below is a picture of the conversations pubblished by the Gazzetta Dello Sport, in Italian.
