Roger Federer has heard enough speculation about match-fixing in tennis. If players are suspected of corruption, he wants names. Federer was responding to reports published on Monday that tennis authorities have suppressed evidence of match-fixing and overlooked suspected cases involving players ranked in the top 50.
“I would love to hear names,” Federer said after beating Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. “Then at least it’s concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it. Was it the playerIJ Was it the support teamIJ Who was itIJ Was it beforeIJ Was it a doubles player, a singles playerIJ Which SlamIJ” “It’s super serious and it’s super important to maintain the integrity of our sport,” Federer added. “So how high up does it goIJ The higher it goes, the more surprised I would be.”
The BBC and BuzzFeed allegations were based on files they reported had been leaked “from inside the sport” showing evidence of suspected match-fixing orchestrated by gambling syndicates in Russia and Italy that had been uncovered during an ATP investigation of a 2007 match in Sopot, Poland, involving suspiciously high levels of betting.
According to the reports, the ATP investigation widened to uncover a network of other players suspected of match-fixing, but officials didn’t follow up on cases. Since then, the reports said, the ATP has repeatedly been warned by bookmakers, foreign police and other investigators about many of the same players, but hasn’t taken any action against them.