Match-fixing scandal hits tennis

Prosecutor Roberto di Martino claims that over 20 leading players are linked to gambling rings.

UK.- According to Italian prosecutor Roberto di Martino, two dozen top tennis players should be investigated for possible links to betting rings, as their names have appeared in evidence seized from gamblers suspected of fixing matches. Two players from this list have been ranked in the world’s top 20.

Di Martino’s probe has extended for two years gathering internet chat logs and recordings of telephone conversations between players and gamblers. He declared on BBC’s File that tennis authorities should be doing more with the evidence he has gathered so far. “Surely if these foreign players were Italian, they would certainly have been at least questioned,” Di Martino commented. “They should have provided some explanations.”

“The international aspect seems more problematic than a situation involving a few Italian players,” he added. “It would be possible to identify, possibly hit, many foreign players who definitely are part of this system. I do not understand why there was no real initiative by the integrity unit to establish if there was something dirty behind this. All information received from the public prosecutor is being fully and thoroughly assessed, verified and, where appropriate, investigated under the powers of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.”

On its part, the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), which is responsible for investigating corruption in the sport, replied that it “strongly refutes any suggestion made by the public prosecutor that evidence of match-fixing has been ignored.”