Italian tennis players Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace are facing corruption accusations after intercepted Internet conversations claiming they sold matches were printed Wednesday in Italian media.
The conversations are part of the extensive data that judicial investigators in Cremona have been sorting through as part of a widespread match-fixing inquiry into soccer.In a July 2007 conversation on Skype between Bracciali and an accountant who was arrested in 2011, Bracciali discusses arranging a match in Newport, Rhode Island, against American player Scoville Jenkins. Jenkins won 6-2, 6-1.
In 2011, an owner of a betting parlor who was later arrested is heard saying that Starace agreed to sell the final of a tournament in Casablanca.Pablo Andujar of Spain won the final 6-1, 6-2.Prosecutor Roberto Di Martino, who is leading the Cremona inquiry, confirmed to The Associated Press the authenticity of the conversations.Di Martino added that foreign tennis players might also be involved.
"I can't rule that out," Di Martino told the AP. "But I can't say anything more for now."
Bracciali and Starace, neither of whom are officially under investigation, had no immediate comment.The last Bet operation has resulted in more than 100 people placed under investigation in Italy since mid-2011, with suspect soccer matches being looked at by prosecutors in Cremona, Bari and Naples. Now the inquiry is branching out to other sports.
The 36-year-old Bracciali is now a doubles specialist while the 33-year-old Starace is ranked 150th in singles.