As the first Grand Slam of 2016 commences, the world of tennis has been dealt a severe blow following a joint investigation into match fixing by the BBC and Buzzfeed News.
The report has revealed that the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) was warned seven years ago about a group of 16 players involved in match fixing. Furthermore, Buzzfeed have confirmed that half of the group will play in this week’s Australian Open, including one top 50 player from the men’s tour.
The names, which include Grand Slam champions, has not been made public. The BBC and Buzzfeed News has passed these names on to the sports governing body.
Whilst previous reports have circulated concerning match fixing in men’s tennis, the investigation has also identified minor issues on the WTA Tour. The investigation looked at the Betfair accounts around the world where a pattern has been identified concerning players deliberately ‘throwing’ matches. There is a wide range of tournaments in question, ranging from lower level to the very top. The BBC has confirmed that three of the suspicious matches occurred at the Wimbledon Championships.
The report has identified three key groups of bettors which are ‘causing concern’. The ‘Russian Group’ consists of 11 accounts of people based in St Petersburg or Moscow. Five suspicious matches have been identified with the key one being between former players Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello. In one match, five of the accounts placed bets on Davydenko to win, generating winnings of £47,347. This was one of a series of occurrences. The report alleges that ‘insider information‘ was used, particularly from Russian players. The results of the Betfair Russia investigation found that some bettors denied knowing each other despite there being clear evidence of computer sharing between them.
The ‘Northern Italian Group‘ concerns matches involving Spanish and/or Argentine players. Six accounts are called into question with the most profitable match for the group involving Vassallo Arguello, as well as 28 other ‘suspicious matches‘. In this group, all the matches occurred at non high level ATP tournaments. The pattern identified was that the player who loses the first set, wins the match (when a player loses the first set his odds usually increases). The profit from the 29 matches range from £10,000 – £61,000 per match. Another name identified in the report was Potito Starace, who received a lifetime ban from tennis last year due to match fixing.
The ‘Sicilian Group‘ is perhaps the most concerning factor in the investigation. The report alleges that the bettors knew of the match outcome before the game started. There were no WTA matches in question, however, there were at least 12 ATP matches. The group placed bets of the 12 matches, winning £257,988. Out of the 12 matches, 9 was in the first round, two was in the second and one was in the quarter-final at various tournaments.
One particular Sicilian gambler has been linked with Arguello. 82 text matches were exchanged between the two discussing match fixing, including once match where the gambler earned over £250,00. Arguello, who reached a ranking high of 47 in 2009, refused to comment on the report when approached by the BBC.
The end of the TIU?
It was reveled that the TIU has been notified about 70 players over the past decade that have potentially been involved in match fixing. Despite being given the evidence, none of them was sanctioned. One of the 2007 investigators was Mark Phillips who told the BBC that he found clear evidence of wrongdoing in his report. The report was based on an analysis of 26,000 matches.
“There was a core of about 10 players who we believed were the most common perpetrators that were at the root of the problem.”
“The evidence was really strong. There appeared to be a really good chance to nip it in the bud and get a strong deterrent out there to root out the main bad apples.”
This is not the first time that the TIU has been questioned about their handling of match fixing. In a report published early last year on slate.com, an unnamed player confirmed that they were asked to throw in match in return for money. They reported the incident to the TIU, however, nothing happened.
“I went through the proper channels and reported it to the TIU, but nothing ever came of it,” The unnamed player said.
Meanwhile Sport Modeler Ian Dorward has also spoken negatively about the capability of the TIU. Doward is the owner of sportdw.com, a website which has looked at numerous tennis matches with suspicious betting patterns.
“While I accept that it is incredibly difficult to prove a player’s connection to match-fixing, the fact that so little ever seems to happen gives little hope that anything will happen this time,” Doward said.
There is yet to be any comment from the ATP, WTA or TIU concerniong the report.
