Wimbledon Fears Match-Fixing Scandal In Massive Betting Scam
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The dossier identifies sudden spikes in the sums wagered. More than ￡450m was bet on Wimbledon matches last year through just one British internet site, Betfair. Many suspect matches show huge rises in the money pledged, compared with similar games.
All the losers singled out from last year’s Wimbledon are alleged to have been involved in suspect matches at other tournaments. One, who is ranked in the top 150, was the loser in eight games on the full list.
The potential gains of a match-fixer can far outweigh the loss of prize money in the early rounds of the biggest tournaments. A player at last year’s Wimbledon would earn ￡10,000 for competing in the first round, with extra prize money of only ￡6,325 for progressing to the second round. On the other hand, bets of ￡400,000 — a figure mentioned in the dossier for just one internet site — could net ￡80,000 or more, depending on the odds.
Betfair, a British-based internet exchange, closely monitors suspicious betting on tennis and sends reports to the sport’s governing bodies. A spokesman for the company said many bookmakers operated blacklists and refused to accept bets on particular players. He said this was not Betfair’s policy, but added: “We certainly monitor the market where certain players are involved far more closely than we would with others.”
This weekend one player, who lost four of the matches highlighted in the dossier, said: “If they \ have suspicious activity, they should ask the people that bet, not me. They should have the names and account numbers of the people who bet and it would be easy to know if they have some relationship with the players.”
An agent for another player also denied any involvement in match-fixing. “He’s not involved in nothing. I’m sure because I know the guy from when he was 14 years old.”
Tags: game, internet, match, spokesman
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