Tennis bodies announce review of anti-corruption unit

“The four important points are: there is no deadline to this review, it will take as long as it is needed; it will cost what it costs; the results will be made public and will be published; and the most important point is we have committed to act on every recommendation”, said ATP chairman Chris Kermode in a press conference at Melbourne Park. They can talk to anyone, investigate anything. There is no getting away from that.

“There have been record crowds here at the Australian Open, and at all the Grand Slams, all the ATP events, all the WTA events around the world, we have the best generation of players that I’ve ever seen and tennis is one of and, if not the best sports entertainment products in the world, leaders in integrity and we aim to keep it that way”.

Revelations of suspicious betting patterns in tennis matches have led to the decision by tennis officials to conduct an independent review into anti-corruption measures.

British number one Andy Murray said last week it was a “little bit hypocritical” that major tournaments could partner with gambling players but players could not.

The governing bodies of global tennis said they expect the IRP to address issues including: “How the TIU can be more transparent without compromising the TIU’s need for investigative confidentiality, additional resources for the TIU both within the unit and at tournaments, structural and/or governance changes that enhance the independence of the TIU, and how to extend the scope and reach of the tennis integrity education program”.

“We have a moral compass issue”, Haggerty said.

Then the New York Times reported that a bookmaker suspended bets on a mixed-doubles match at the Open involving Spaniards David Marrero and Lara Arruabarrena and Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Andrea Hlavackova. I think there are parts of the world.

They said they had put about $14 million into their anti-corruption measures and successfully investigated and sanctioned 18 players, six of whom received life bans.

“It’s easy to throw a match in tennis and not make it obvious but it’s not something I think about much”.

It was also confirmed by Kermode that “conversations had started” about adding to the panel an expert in how electronics now affect the sport.

The lack of funding should be of paramount concern, Martina Navratilova said.

“The integrity of sport in general is under the microscope and we have to reassure everybody in our sport, watching our sport, that integrity is absolutely the top of our pile of things to do”.

Kermode said some of the players he’s spoken to were “very angry” about the allegations in the reports because of the damage that’s been done to their reputations. They took the first step in doing at the end of the joint statement, calling on authorities to cooperate.

It claimed 16 top tennis stars – including Grand Slam winners – had repeatedly been named as being suspected of throwing games for cash.

Kermode said: “We’re in a toxic environment for sport at the moment”. We don’t want to be complacent. “I think they are just telling people what they want to hear”.