Tennis looks set to become the latest sport to be dragged through controversy after dramatic information was revealed by BBC Sport and Buzzfeed News on Sunday night. They revealed shocking accusations of frequent instances of match-fixing at the highest levels of tennis, including 16 top-50 players and Grand Slam champions.

2007 Davydenko match sparks investigation

The allegations relate partly to a report produced for the ATP in 2008 in repsonse to a highly suspicious match between Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello in mid 2007.  The match in question had led to huge scandal around match fixing in tennis - hundreds of thousands, even millions of pounds was staked on an Arguello victory, despite Davydenko being the clear favourite on paper. The bets continued to pour in, even when the Russian was a set and a break up, and he eventually ended up retiring three games into the third set.

An ATP investigation cleared Davydenko of any wrongdoing, amid threats of violence towards a Betfair manager in Moscow from a group of gamblers who'd bet hundreds of thousands on Arguello winning and the initial refusal of Davydenko to hand over his phone to the investigation. What the investigation did uncover, however, was something far bigger than this one match.

A match in Sopot prompted a match-fixing investigation
A match in Sopot prompted a match-fixing investigation (photo:kalendarz.sopot.pl)

Suspiscious betting in Russia, Italy, and Sicily

Betfair had been warning the tennis authorities about match-fixing being rife in their sport for quite some time, but it took this investigation to discover just how widespread this was. It uncovered groups in Russia, as well as in northern Italy and Sicily which would regularly bet large sums of money on the underdog in a match - underdogs that would, of course, win the match.

The evidence was described by one a betting investigator who worked on the investigation as being as being "really strong", and as powerful as any he'd seen in a 20-year career

The tennis authorities knew they had a problem, and in 2008 the new 'Tennis Integrity Unit' was set up to police match-fixing, but only employing three investigators, rather than the six that had been suggested by Jeff Rees, one of the leaders of the investigation. Such is the reported scale of the problem, that questions surely need to be asked as to why three investigators was deemed enough to police the entire ATP.

All players at that time had to sign up to a new code that required them to hand over their phone and bank records, should they be suspected of fixing matches. Despite this, the 28 players implicated in the investigation were unable to be pursued, as the ATP's legal advice was that the new rules could not be applied retrospectively.

The Tennis Integrity Unit logo (harrisonspr.com)
The Tennis Integrity Unit logo (harrisonspr.com)

Suspicion over Grand Slam champions

The effectiveness of the Tennis Integrity Unit is being seriously called into question tonight. It's been revealed that, of the 70 players flagged to them in recent years by bookmakers, sixteen of those flagged most repeatedly have been ranked in the top 50. Most damningly of all, it's reported that Grand Slam champions, in both singles and doubles, are part of the list. None of the 70 have had action taken against them by the tennis authorities.

Frustratingly for many, Buzzfeed and the BBC have decided not to reveal the names of those on the list, as they have no way of proving the accusations. Tennis followers are left to speculate on which major champion or champions of the last decade or so have been accused, and what the implications for the sport could be, should any household names be on the list.

Three matches flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit have been at Wimbledon - this is a problem at the very highest levels of the sport.

Scale of problem shocks tennis

This information has been leaked to the BBC and Buzzfeed by a group of people within tennis who wish to remain anonymous. Whilst the revelation that tennis has a problem with match-fixing may not come as a surprise to all, the fact that it has been occurring among such highly ranked players, and at such big events comes as a shock.

We are yet to hear of any comment on this story from any players, although the Buzzfeed article breaking the news was shared on Twitter by world number two Andy Murray. This is a story which will hopefully force the ATP into action - particularly if the names of the players involved are eventually revealed.

Whilst the revelation that tennis has a problem with match-fixing may not come as a surprise to all, the fact that it has been occurring among such highly ranked players, and at such big events comes as a shock. Tennis is now just the latest in a growing line of sports that faces a corruption scandal - we must hope that the ATP takes swift and decisive action against the match-fixers.

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