Probe match-fixing charges in world of tennis
The Australian Open couldn't have got off to a more unfortunate start. On the first day of the grand slam tennis tournament, reports erupted of alleged widespread match-fixing in the sport, and the world's number one Novak Djokovic claimed that he had been approached with money to lose in a tournament. Expectedly, both these developments are being downplayed by various authorities. This is dangerous, as experience shows. In the field of athletics, football and cricket, when accusations of doping, financial wrongdoing and fixing first came into the public domain, the instant reaction had not been very different from the ones we are seeing in the present case. The failure to take the allegations seriously and conduct a thorough investigation had led to the malaise gaining ground in those disciplines and finally the reputation of the game and the administrators and players involved took a beating. There is no sense in tennis authorities making the same mistake in a hurry and paying the price at leisure. They must seriously look into the news reports of BBC andBuzzFeed News which have said that 16 tennis players ranked in the world's top-50 list had been repeatedly reported to the Tennis Integrity Unit, on suspicion that they had lost matches in a pre-determined fashion. The TIU had been established to police wrongdoing in the sport at the highest levels, and its caution cannot be taken lightly. The point is: Why did not the game's administrators act on the materialIJ Both BuzzFeed News and BBC have claimed that their reports were based on findings of a probe in 2007 established by the Association of Tennis Professionals. It is difficult, therefore, to now digest ATP chairman Kris Kermode's claim that match-fixing allegations were not suppressed. He needs to tell the world what action had been taken on the accusations. That something fishy has been happening, becomes more evident by Djokovic's startling revelation. The top-seeded player has claimed to have been approached by certain people in 2007 (it shows how far back the racket goes) through his support staff to throw a match for a consideration of $200,000. He has said that he felt “terrible” over the episode and that such a thing, in his view, was a “crime in sport”. Indeed. However, it would be interesting to know why he did not pursue the matter, given its gravity. He must have perhaps believed that the issue had rested after he contemptuously rejected the offer. But Djokovic must realise that the incident has ramifications beyond his self. It's still not too late. He owes it to his personal integrity and to the reputation of the sport that has given him so much.
Since fixing of matches happens because fixers want a result of their choice to make a killing in the betting market, the role of betting firms too has come into question. Interestingly, a betting company is a sponsor of the ongoing Australian Open. It is understandable for players like Djokovic to not take a position on whether betting firms should be sponsoring sports events — he said it was a “borderline” case — but the issue cannot be brushed aside. Prominent players such as Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, among others, must now join hands to counter the menace of match-fixing.