Tennis Match Fixing Scandal is Warning of Hundreds Billions Spent on Sport Gambling

[jerrym]

Another betting scandal, provides further warning of the risks of the hundreds of billions spent on sports gambling corrupting more and more sports.



Tennis' governing bodies rejected claims they covered up or ignored evidence related to match fixing in the wake of an investigation that said grand slam winners were among a group of 16 players "who have repeatedly been reported for losing games when highly suspicious bets have been placed against them."
The investigation, conducted by BuzzFeed News (http://www.buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/the-tennis-racket#.vcXWzEY8Ym) and the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/35319202), also said that one top-50 player at the Australian Open is "suspected of repeatedly fixing his first set." ...

Match-fixing scandals have rocked football's Serie A in 2006 and international cricket in 2010 but no major cases have led to penalties in top-tier tennis. So far, there have been 18 "convictions," as ATP head Chris Kermode put it, and six lifetime bans stemming from the Tennis Integrity Unit, which was formed in 2008.
The highest profile investigation conducted by the ATP revolved around a match played a year earlier in Sopot, Poland, between former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello. Despite suspicious betting patterns, neither player was formally charged.
No names were mentioned.


http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/18/tennis/australian-open-match-fixing-tennis/index.html




According to Sportradar director Darren Small, the international sports match-betting industry is worth an estimated $700 billion to $1 trillion annually. These figures account for both legal and illegal betting markets, the latter existing primarily in China. Furthermore, an estimated 70 percent of all markets’ annual trade comes from soccer betting.


http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/01/21/soccer-betting-a-worldwide-gambling-industry-worth-billions/

[jerrym]

Even low-level Canadian semi-pro soccer leagues are susceptible to gambling corruption.



An international match-fixing syndicate set its sights on a Canadian soccer league in hopes the lower-level games were far enough out of the spotlight that officials wouldn't suspect tampering, wiretaps obtained by CBC News suggests.
The syndicate targeted the Canadian Soccer League (CSL), a semi-pro league in Ontario and Quebec that serves as a feeder system for Canadian major league clubs.
CBC News obtained evidence of the match-fixing from hundreds of hours of police wiretaps revealed during a 2011 German court case into one of the largest sports-fixing scandals to hit Europe (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2011/05/19/sp-german-matchfixing.html). The syndicate manipulated domestic league games around the world.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/exclusive-canadian-soccer-an-easy-target-for-match-fixing-1.1212414

[argolio]

North American football might be safe because these international syndicates have little or no understanding of the game. Having said that, the CFL shouldn't take this lightly, especially since these scumbags are already operating in Canada.

[jerrym]

I couldn't agree more that tennis is getting what it deserves by looking the other way. Unfortunately, so are many other sports from track and field, to soccer, to cricket etc.


If you have a major problem and you look the other way and pretend it never happened, or try to brush it under the rug, then you can count on one thing: The problem will still be there.
The tennis world right now is aflame over an alleged match-fixing, gambling scandal that is ruining the first of its four annual parties, the Australian Open, and threatening the credibility of all of its star players and the sport itself. An investigation by BuzzFeed (http://www.buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/the-tennis-racket#.wcW4pK8ED) and the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/35319202) analyzed the betting activity on 26,000 professional matches from 2009 to 2015 and found the field for the year's first major is littered with suspected match-fixers. At least one major singles champion is suspected of having lost matches on purpose for gamblers.
Shock! Outrage! But here's the thing:
Tennis (http://bleacherreport.com/tennis) is getting exactly what it deserves.
This isn't a shock and it's not even a surprise. It was inevitable. Why? Because tennis has a gambling problem, and its leaders are so tangled up in massive conflicts of interest and so inept about public relations that it didn't do anything about the problem when it could have and needed to.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2609199-tennis-is-getting-what-it-deserves-with-latest-match-fixing-scandal

[jerrym]

Below is a video of Wendy Mesley interviewing journalist Declan Hill, who wrote Insiders Guide to Match Fixing in Football (Soccer), on the CBC National about how the hundreds of billions being spent on sports gambling has the potential to destroy many sports. Hill discusses how nearly all sports are at risk globally, Russian mafia influence, the risk to the very existence of many sports, the conflict of interest of league administrators and owners in dealing with the problem, and how better monitoring of sudden spikes in betting on sports events could help reduce the risks. He also asserts that Canada has a really bad reputation internationally because it is widely believed around the globe that there is widespread corruption related to gambling in the Canadian Soccer League that has not been dealt with.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2682490922

[Argo57]

Several years ago at my local tennis club the Mens singles final ended under dubious circumstances, Biff was dominating the match over Skip, you could feel the tension in the club rise inexplicably, during a break Biff takes a sip of his cucumber infused water and pull up lame while walking out on the court, the crowd erupts and a brawl breaks out, Lacoste, Polo and for us poor folk Kirkland fabric is flying everywhere it was awful, I haven't watched tennis since!!
Seriously my guess is this scandal doesn't effect the top players in the World who are making big cash, journeyman players who are much lower ranked and making very little money could be vulnerable to this kind of corruption.

[AngeloV]

He also asserts that Canada has a really bad reputation internationally because it is widely believed around the globe that there is widespread corruption related to gambling in the Canadian Soccer League that has not been dealt with.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2682490922

Just my opinion, but how many people even know about the Canadian soccer league to make it a big gambling league? I have a hard time buying that there is a lot of action on the CSL games which would warrant anyone fixing anything.



Several years ago at my local tennis club the Mens singles final ended under dubious circumstances, Biff was dominating the match over Skip, you could feel the tension in the club rise inexplicably, during a break Biff takes a sip of his cucumber infused water and pull up lame while walking out on the court, the crowd erupts and a brawl breaks out, Lacoste, Polo and for us poor folk Kirkland fabric is flying everywhere it was awful, I haven't watched tennis since!!
Seriously my guess is this scandal doesn't effect the top players in the World who are making big cash, journeyman players who are much lower ranked and making very little money could be vulnerable to this kind of corruption.

I'm am shocked...not in the Biff vs Skip fiasco, but by the fact that you belong to a tennis club.

:p

[Argo57]

Just my opinion, but how many people even know about the Canadian soccer league to make it a big gambling league? I have a hard time buying that there is a lot of action on the CSL games which would warrant anyone fixing anything.




I'm am shocked...not in the Biff vs Skip fiasco, but by the fact that you belong to a tennis club.

:p

I was the Enforcer on the Lawn Bowling Team!!

[jerrym]

Just my opinion, but how many people even know about the Canadian soccer league to make it a big gambling league? I have a hard time buying that there is a lot of action on the CSL games which would warrant anyone fixing anything.




I'm am shocked...not in the Biff vs Skip fiasco, but by the fact that you belong to a tennis club.

:p

In the CBC investigation of the CSL, it was reported that being a globally obscure sport with little money spent on regulation was actually an advantage for Russian mafia because they felt it was less likely that anything would be done to stop the fixing.

[matthew]

In the CBC investigation of the CSL, it was reported that being a globally obscure sport with little money spent on regulation was actually an advantage for Russian mafia because they felt it was less likely that anything would be done to stop the fixing.

This a really well one podcast on the subject.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g25cn

[jerrym]

This a really well one podcast on the subject.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g25cn


Thanks for podcast. As usual, BBC has done an excellent investigative job.