On Monday, Tennis authorities strongly denied the suppressing evidence of match-fixing.
Earlier the BBC and BuzzFeed reported about the widespread corruption on the professional tennis circuit. However, these are totally denied by the officials.
A programme to be aired on Tuesday, the BBC claim a joint investigation with Buzzfeed, “Over the last decade 16 players who have ranked in the top 50 have been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit [attached to the Association of Tennis Professionals] over suspicions they have thrown matches.”
Later, a statement issued on Sunday from the BBC and Buzzfeed to tale that they got a “cache of documents” from unnamed sources which exposed 2007 investigation, “widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of world tennis, including at Wimbledon.”
Just ahead of the starting Australian Open, the year’s first grand slam tournament, this news gives heat in the tennis world.
Chris Kermode, the head of ATP told reporters in Melbourne, “The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn’t being thoroughly investigated. And while the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information, and we always do.”
The report said that the investigation uncovered syndicates in Russia and Italy making lots of money through the betting on matches which investigators thought to be fixed.
But the “core group” of 16 players had not faced sanctions any questioning from the anti-corruption agency, set up in 2008.
Kermode said that the integrity unit had won 18 convictions including six life bans and adding it “has to find evidence as opposed to information, suspicion, or hearsay”.
He added, “Let me just say that all of us here in tennis are absolutely committed to stamp out any form of corrupt conduct in our sport. There is a zero-tolerance policy on this. We are not complacent. We are very vigilant on this.”