Investigative News Report Alleges Match Fixing In Tennis Citing 16 Athletes As Having Accepted Cash Bribes To Lose Games

January 18. 2015

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic

The BBC and Buzzfeed News have published a story alleging match fixing in tennis. The reports allege 16 top 50 ranked male tennis players engaged in match fixing. The report has not furnished the public with the names of the tennis players being accused of accepting cash bribes to lose matches, which benefits bookies on the gambling circuit.

The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) and separately the ATP have denied the allegations. World number one, Novak Djokovic, stated he was offer $200,000 to engage in match fixing, with the offer being made for him to lose a game in St Petersburg. He declined the offer. Djokovic stated, "Of course, we threw it away. It made me feel terrible."

Tennis champion, Roger Federer stated, "I would love to hear names. Then at least it's concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it. Was it the player? Was it the support team? Who was it? Was it before? Was it a doubles player, a singles player? Which Slam? It's super serious and it's super important to maintain the integrity of our sport. So how high up does it go? The higher it goes, the more surprised I would be."

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who is a fan of the sport and an avid tennis player has called for an independent probe. Cameron's spokesperson at Downing Street stated,"It is deeply concerning that another sport is facing such serious allegations. As with the allegations we have seen in other sports like athletics and football, the people who suffer most are the fans. The Prime Minister would want to see these issues investigated by the independent authorities. The most important thing is that action is taken in response and the independent authorities get on with that."

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Tennis hit with claims of widespread match-fixing

18 January 2016 at 10:29am - Tennis has been hit by allegations of widespread match-fixing at the elite level of the sport, including Wimbledon, while officials have denied claims of a cover-up. The names of 16 players have been flagged repeatedly to the Tennis Integrity Unit over the last decade amid fears they have thrown matches but no action was taken, according to a joint investigation by BBC News and Buzzfeed News. The TIU and the head of the men's ATP Tour have denied any suspected wrongdoing had been covered up.

Djokovic reveals he was offered £140,000 to throw match

Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic has revealed he was offered £140,000 to throw a match in 2007 as the sport faces fresh allegations of elite match-fixing over the past decade. Djokovic said "people that were working with me at the time" were approached with a $200,000 (£140,000) offer for him to deliberately lose a match at a tournament in St Petersburg. "Of course, we threw it away right away," the Serbian told reporters on the day he began his defence of the Australian Open. "It made me feel terrible."

Responding directly to the latest allegations, Djokovic suggested the alleged widespread fixing concerned matches "almost 10 years ago" and players "who are not active any more" despite claims one top-50 player suspected of fixing is competing in the Australian Open...

http://www.itv.com

PM calls for independent probe into elite tennis 'fixing'

View all 4 updates › 18 January 2016 at 12:41pm -  David Cameron has called for an independent investigation into the "deeply concerning" allegations of widespread match-fixing in tennis, including at Wimbledon. A Downing Street spokesperson said the Prime Minister wants to see "action taken" in the wake of claims that 16 elite players had been reported over fears of fixing in the past decade.

"It is deeply concerning that another sport is facing such serious allegations. As with the allegations we have seen in other sports like athletics and football, the people who suffer most are the fans. The Prime Minister would want to see these issues investigated by the independent authorities. The most important thing is that action is taken in response and the independent authorities get on with that." – Downing Street spokesperson

http://www.itv.com

Federer: It's time to name players suspected of match fixing

Jan. 18, 2016 11:06 AM EST - MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Roger Federer has heard enough speculation about match-fixing in tennis. If players are suspected of corruption, he wants names. Federer was responding to reports by BBC and BuzzFeed News published Monday that tennis authorities have suppressed evidence of match-fixing and overlooked suspected cases involving players ranked in the top 50, including Grand Slam singles and doubles winners. The reports said that none of these players had faced sanctions and more than half would be playing at this year's Australian Open, which started Monday. The players weren't identified by name...

http://www.bigstory.ap.org