Sign Up
..... Australian Property Network. It's All About Property!
Categories

Posted: 2019-01-10 22:27:52

Updated January 11, 2019 09:29:12

Twenty-eight professional tennis players, including one who participated in last year's US Open, have been linked to an international organised group accused of fixing matches, Spanish police say.

Key points:

  • A number of tennis players have been arrested by Spanish police after being linked to an Armenian gang
  • European authorities say at least 97 Futures and Challenger matches were fixed
  • The Tennis Integrity Unit says the current environment is "a fertile breeding ground" for match fixing

Authorities said the players tainted results after taking bribes from an Armenian ring that was dismantled in October.

Fifteen people were arrested at the time, including some of the tennis players.

Eleven houses were raided and police seized luxury vehicles, a shotgun, credit cards, and 167,000 euros ($267,000) in cash.

It was not clear if the player who took part in the US Open was among those detained.

Police accused Spanish player Marc Fornell-Mestres — whose highest career singles ranking was 236th in 2007 — of acting as the link between players and the Armenian ring that bribed them for betting purposes.

Fornell-Mestres was provisionally suspended from the sport at the end of last year.

No other names were immediately disclosed by authorities.

Police said the organised group bribed the players to guarantee predetermined results and used the identities of thousands of citizens to place international bets on the matches.

Authorities said members of the Armenian ring attended the matches to ensure the players complied with what was previously agreed.

European Union law enforcement agency Europol, which supported the operation led by Spanish authorities, said at least 97 matches from lower-tier Futures and Challenger tournaments were fixed.

In total, 83 people were implicated in the probe, including the alleged leaders of the Armenian group.

More than 40 bank accounts used by those allegedly involved with the ring were blocked by authorities.

Police are also investigating what they suspect are strong links between some of the suspects arrested in Spain and an Armenian-Belgian crime gang broken up by Belgium police last year, also suspected of fixing tennis matches.

In the Belgium case, police announced in June the arrest of 13 people in Belgium and said the gang also targeted lower-level tennis matches.

'Fertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity'

News of the arrests came a day after the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) revealed that, in 2018, more tennis players were disciplined for violations of anti-corruption rules than in any other year since the body's creation.

Twenty-one individuals broke anti-corruption rules, with the majority sanctioned for match-fixing or betting offences.

Eight lifetime bans were imposed, most notably to Italian former world number 49 Daniele Bracciali for match fixing and facilitating betting.

An independent review panel, set up by the sport's four governing organisations, the ATP, WTA, ITF and Grand Slam Board, last month published a report into the threat of match fixing in the sport.

It described the current tennis environment as "a lamentably fertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity", in particular the lowest rungs of the professional game.

The report said there were around 14,000 notional professional players in 2018, but that only about 600 earned enough money to cover the annual cost of competing.

Of the 400 match specific alerts flagged up by betting organisations to the TIU in 2018, 91 per cent were generated at the lowest and mid-levels of the sport, where prize money is minimal compared to what is on offer on the main Tours.

"The imbalance between prize money and the cost of competing places players in an invidious position by tempting them to contrive matches for financial reward," the report said.

AP/Reuters

Topics: sport, tennis, spain

First posted January 11, 2019 09:27:52

View More
  • 0 Comment(s)
Captcha Challenge
Reload Image
Type in the verification code above