Investigation finds professional tennis a 'fertile breeding ground' for match fixing

  • 26/04/2018
French Open
French Open tennis action. Photo credit: Photosport

 A two-year corruption investigation claims tennis has been responsible for more suspicious betting than any other sport.

The Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis claimed the lower levels of the sport provided a "fertile breeding ground" for breaches of integrity and are engulfed in a "tsunami" of betting-related corruption.

The problems stem from too many players in the lower reaches, such as the Futures and Challenger circuits, not earning enough to make a living, coupled with the rise of online betting.

"Player-incentive structure and remuneration creates a lamentably fertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity," said Adam Lewis QC, who chaired the panel.

"In particular, only those playing principally at Tour level make a decent living. Only the top 250 female players and the top 350 men players break even before coaching costs, yet there are around 15,000 professional players."

The review panel was set up in February 2016, following allegations made by the BBC and Buzzfeed that leading players, including Grand Slam winners, were involved in suspected match-fixing and that evidence had been suppressed.

Having interviewed about 3300 players, as well as tournament organisers, officials and betting operators, it found "evidence of some issues" at Grand Slams and Tour events, although it did not uncover evidence of a widespread problem at those higher levels.

The panel found no evidence of top-level players being implicated in corruption.

However, it did claim 'tanking' - players seemingly giving up during matches - which has been a feature at some high-profile tournaments, has been too often tolerated by the tennis authorities.

The level of suspicious-betting alerts rose sharply after the sale of official live-scoring data to betting companies in 2012, making tens of thousands of matches available to gamble on.

"The imbalance between prizemoney and costs, and deliberate under-performance, are the seeds for corruption," Lewis added. "It is a small step for a player. who already intends to lose for other reasons, to bet or to make others aware of their intentions.

"It's a small step to deliberately lose, or lose a game or a set, so as to make enough money to continue playing. According to experts, since 2015, tennis has been responsible for more suspicious betting than any other sport."

Among the panel's recommendations is the restructuring of the professional game, with a significant reduction in tournaments deemed 'professional'.

The panel also recommended discontinuing the sale of official live-scoring data at lower-level tennis, although betting companies claim this will merely encourage black-market activity, and eliminating betting sponsorship in the sport.

The review did not find evidence of a cover-up by either the Tennis Integrity Unit nor the International Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals - a finding welcomed by the governing bodies.

PA