ATP to meet Friday in London to discuss ways to avoid match-fixing

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  • bigboydan
    SBR Aristocracy
    • 08-10-05
    • 55420

    #1
    ATP to meet Friday in London to discuss ways to avoid match-fixing
    You just couldn't keep you damn mouth shut could ya Andy Murry.


    Major tennis organizations to meet Friday in London to discuss ways to avoid match-fixing

    LONDON (AP) -Concerns about tennis gambling have prompted representatives from the world's major professional tennis associations to schedule a meeting in London on Friday to discuss ways to avoid match-fixing.

    The meeting, which will include the ATP, the International Tennis Federation and the WTA, comes three days after 18th-ranked Andy Murray became the latest player to speak out about corruption in the sport.

    "It will be to discuss the next steps needed in order to ensure a tennis-wide integrity unit is created as quickly as possible, but also that it can be as effective as possible across the sport,'' ATP spokesman Kris Dent said Wednesday.

    Murray said Tuesday it was difficult to prove if someone was throwing a match, but he added "everyone knows it goes on.''

    That prompted the ATP to ask for an immediate meeting.

    "We have asked, via his agent, to meet with him at the earliest possible moment, which in most probability will be early next week'' at the Madrid Masters, Dent said.

    Suspicions about match-fixing began about two months ago after an online betting site, in an unprecedented move, voided bets on a match in August between fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland because of irregular betting patterns.

    Davydenko withdrew from the match in the third set because of a foot injury, and the ATP is looking into it.

    "The investigation is ongoing and making good progress, although the comprehensive nature of it means we are looking at a bit of time yet before a conclusion is reached,'' Dent said.

    Murray's comments also revived earlier talks about a rule requiring players to tell the ATP within two days of any information they may have regarding match-fixing.

    "The rule ... will make it a sanctionable offense for any player who is approached not to pass the information on within 48 hours to the relevant authorities,'' Dent said. "We are very concerned by reports that players and other people involved in the sport have potentially important information that is not being passed to us.''

    The rule is set to be formally approved at the next ATP Board meeting in November during the Masters Cup in Shanghai, Dent said.

    Since the Davydenko match, other players have said they have been approached by outsiders trying to influence a match. Last month, Gilles Elseneer of Belgium said he was offered - and turned down - more than $100,000 to lose a first-round match against Potito Starace of Italy at Wimbledon in 2005.

    On the women's tour, a match in September drew suspicion for unusual betting patterns.

    An online betting site briefly delayed payment after 120th-ranked Mariya Koryttseva beat No. 96 Tatiana Poutchek in the quarterfinals of a tournament in India. Eventually, bets were paid out, and both the WTA and the betting site said they doubt there was any wrongdoing connected to the match.
  • BigBollocks
    SBR MVP
    • 06-11-06
    • 2045

    #2
    The only way would be if these smaller tournaments had higher purses. When you have a struggling grinder playing in a tourney paying $8K for the champion and he's offered $10K to fix his first round match, it's fairly common sense what's going to happen from there. There has been a lot of match fixing on the challenger circuit as well. Any sport where the amounts bet far exceed the player purses will always be prone to constant match-fixing....
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    • Tchocky
      SBR MVP
      • 02-14-06
      • 2371

      #3
      Tennis needs to clean up their act. I like to bet on tennis but have been very wary because I'm not sure how much motiviation these players have to win.
      Comment
      • bigboydan
        SBR Aristocracy
        • 08-10-05
        • 55420

        #4
        Originally posted by Tchocky
        Tennis needs to clean up their act. I like to bet on tennis but have been very wary because I'm not sure how much motiviation these players have to win.

        I just wish that Pinny had that dynamic lines service they are now using way back when I could still play there, because that would have extremely helpful with all this talk about match-fixing.
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        • bigboydan
          SBR Aristocracy
          • 08-10-05
          • 55420

          #5
          Give me a break Andy Murray.

          Murray tries to clarify remarks ahead of meeting with ATP

          MADRID, Spain -- Andy Murray tried to clarify remarks he made about corruption in tennis on Sunday, two days ahead of his scheduled meeting with ATP officials about the comments he made last week.

          "I never said once that players fix matches and that players were directly betting on matches," Murray said. "I did say that there was a lot of betting in tennis."

          On Tuesday, Murray said that "everyone knows it goes on" after several other players said they were offered money to throw matches over the past months.

          Murray plays Radek Stepanek in the first round of the Madrid Masters, which starts Monday.

          "Three or four of the players have said that they have been offered matches ... and yeah, I did say that stuff was going on but, whether players are accepting money or not, no one's been [found] guilty and to think tennis matches have been fixed, I never said that," Murray said Sunday. "I don't think it's as big as an issue as it's been made out."

          Representatives from the world's major professional tennis associations met Friday to discuss an "integrity unit" designed to keep the sport free of match-fixing.

          Murray said he will meet with the ATP on Tuesday to have "a chat" about his comments. He hadn't spoken with anyone from the ATP yet "because I think they understand what happened."

          Suspicions about match-fixing began after an online gambling site, in an unprecedented move, voided bets on a match in August between fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland because of irregular betting patterns. Davydenko withdrew from that match in the third set because of a foot injury, and the ATP is looking into it.

          Davydenko has criticized Murray for his remarks, but the Scot said he was pleased that tennis' international bodies are taking action.

          "The amount of money bet on some matches has people taking notice," Murray said. "Every single player wants to play in a clean sport and what they are trying to set up will ensure that the players have that."
          Comment
          • vanman
            SBR MVP
            • 02-08-07
            • 1163

            #6
            Typical of murray open mouth first engage brain after.
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