'Tsunami' of match-fixing in non-elite tennis: review panel

Representational pictureA tsunami of matchfixing is plaguing nonelite tennis according to a report released Wednesday by a review panel set up to look into allegations of corruption in the sport The Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis report said the lower levels of the sport provide a fertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity and are engulfed in bettingrelated 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 Playerincentive structure and remuneration creates a lamentably fertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity said lawyer Adam Lewis who chaired the Independent Review Panel IRPIn 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 15000 professional players The IRP was set up in January 2016 following allegations made by the BBC and Buzzfeed that leading players including Grand Slam winners were involved in suspected matchfixing and that evidence had been suppressed Having surveyed more than 3000 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 A total of 145 percent of players who responded to the survey said they had firsthand knowledge of matchfixing but the panel found no evidence of toplevel players being implicated in corruption Detection difficult Detection is difficult not least because at many lowerlevel matches there are no spectators and inadequate facilities to protect players from potential corrupters the report said Moreover underperformance is often attributed to tanking which too often has been tolerated 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 prize money and costs and deliberate underperformance are the seeds for corruption said LewisIt 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 Its 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 The review did not find evidence of a coverup by either the Tennis Integrity Unit or the International Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals a finding welcomed by the governing bodies However some of the actions taken by the ITF and ATP were seen to be inappropriate and ineffectiveThe panel recommended restructuring of the professional game with a significant reduction in tournaments deemed professional discontinuing the sale of official live scoring data at lowerlevel tennis and eliminating betting sponsorship in the sport A joint ATP ITF Womens Tennis Association and Grand Slam Board statement read Following an initial review of the interim report we confirm our agreement in principle with the package of measures and recommendations proposed by the IRP These include the removal of opportunities and incentives for breaches in integrity the establishment of a restructured more independent Tennis Integrity Unit enhanced education expanded rules and greater cooperation and collaboration with the betting industry and broader sports communityCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever