Match fixing is not uncommon in any game where sports betting are made, even in the prestigious world of professional tennis. Since 2007, the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) has flagged at least 16 players within the top 50 rankings repeatedly over the suspicion of having thrown matches.
The TIU is the authority established to police the sport, said they placed zero-tolerance on betting-related corruption.
In 2007, a confidential report given to the tennis authorities showed enquiry on 28-suspected players who should be investigated. However, findings were never found due to lack of any follow up investigations.
Recently, Buzzfeed News and the BBC revealed secret files that expose evidence of widespread match fixing perpetrated by high-ranked players of tennis.
The whistleblowers decided not to reveal the player's names. A total of 16 individuals have been implicated when the game fixing controversy was at its peak eight years ago. The allegations show that half of the suspected players are in the starting field of the Australian Open.
The BBC reported: "Eight of the players repeatedly flagged to the TIU over the past decade are due to play in the Australian Open." The lack of willingness by tennis authorities to pursue investigations has led to serious concern.
"If they were really serious about dealing with this, then they really need to create an integrity unit with teeth," said Benn Gunn, former police chief constable whose original review of betting in tennis led to the creation of the TIU. The BBC also quoted a claim by the European Sports Security Association, which says, "Tennis attracts more suspicious gambling activity than other sports".
Seven years have passed since world tennis authorities handled convincing evidence of high-ranking players suspected of throwing away matches at major tournaments, including Wimbledon. Despite compelling evidences from the investigation held against these players, all players were still able to play the tournament.
Wimbledon was dragged into the new match-fixing scandal when exposed secret files that seems to suggest three thrown matches in the tournament over recent years. In the leaked files by anti-corruption investigators, it alleges how the sport's authorities covered up the extent of the corruption problem, even allowing the primary suspects to continue playing.
The main allegation is that scrutiny of 26,000 matches given to the sport's governing bodies in 2007 has given enough evidence to deal with suspected players, but was however not acted upon. The three matches at Wimbledon in the exposed secret files are said to be included, though it has not been revealed when those matches took place.
source: http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/35319202
