It’s time to name players suspected of match-fixing

70 – players names reported to appear on nine lists of suspected fixers flagged up to tennis authorities.

A major investigative report today into crime, gambling and tennis – it involves billions of dollars, elite players, violent threats.

“I would love to hear names”, Roger Federer said.

‘Then at least it’s concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it.

On Monday, the TIU’s director of integrity Nigel Willerton said the body’s hands were tied in obtaining evidence because players and their support teams aren’t obliged to hand over, for instance, phone records and emails. Who was it? Was it before? Was it a doubles player, a singles player?

“I just think that it should be tennis that does a better job of explaining – they shouldn’t have to read it in the press”, he said. “So how high up does it go?” “We have I think a sport (that has) evolved and upgraded our programs and authorities to deal with these particular cases” he said.

When contacted, the Tennis Integrity Unit said they wanted to talk to the anonymous player directly and dismissed “any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed”.

Novak Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked player, said Monday that when he was breaking in as a professional several years ago, a member of his team was approached about fixing a match.

The profile given to match-fixing by the report’s release on the opening morning of the year’s first grand slam is nevertheless likely to see corruption tackled with more vigour, perhaps with a funding boost to allow the TIU to expand beyond its current six staff. ‘I was not approached directly.

An investigation carried out by the BBC and Buzzfeed alleges that over the last decade a core group of 16 players have been brought to the attention of the sport’s governing bodies over suspicions they have fixed matches. “Of course, we threw it away right away”, Djokovic said.

“Tennis hasn’t been really getting the piece of that cake, if you know what I mean”.

In late November 2011, Kollerer applied to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to challenge the decision made by the Association of Tennis Professionals and the International Tennis Federation. I knew that there had been some, but not as many as there were. It’s tennis alright, so you have to say something.

Other allegations included that a confidential report in 2008 recommended investigations into 28 players but the findings were not followed up, apparently on legal advice.

“I think when people come with those sums of money when you’re that age I think sometimes people can make mistakes”, the Briton told reporters. “Knowing Djokovic I understand why he declined and, on the whole, I can not even imagine who would make him such offer”, he added. The amount is likely to increase now: Federer said he hoped the sport would allocate more money to the investigative unit.

Djokovic added: “I know that there is also many betting companies that on the websites are using the names, the brands, images of tournaments and players and matches in order to profit from that”.

Officials said they “absolutely reject” suggestions they failed to act against match-fixing after the report, which cited secret files leaked by whistle-blowers. Cameron was a keen amateur tennis player when a student at Oxford University and his official spokesman said Monday: “It is deeply concerning that another sport is facing such serious allegations”.