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Henman raises tennis betting fear

Tim Henman has raised concerns that betting in tennis is endangering the integrity of the sport.

Former world number four Henman told BBC One's Inside Sport he has heard on the grapevine of players being asked to influence the outcome of matches.

"I personally have never experienced it but, listening to the players talking, it seems it goes on," said the Briton.

"We've got to be very careful, very vigilant about it as tennis doesn't want to be associated with that."

In August, ATP chiefs launched a probe into betting in tennis in the wake of a gambling scandal surrounding world number four Nikolay Davydenko's recent defeat by Martin Vassallo Arguello.

The world number four withdrew from the match in Poland earlier this month when losing 2-6 6-3 2-1 because of injury.

Online betting exchange Betfair reported concerns of irregular gambling patterns to the ATP, the governing body of men's tennis.

Davydenko, who denies any involvement, will be questioned by ATP investigators in October.

Without referring to that investigation, four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman added: "There has been some pretty serious accusations in the tennis world and I, for one, will be interested to see what comes out of it.

"No-one has ever approached me. I obviously wasn't the right material.

People have always bet on tennis but the magnitude seems like it has increased


"It's an easy target because it's a two-horse race and there is a lot going on. You talk about a Grand Slam - there are 64 men's matches and 64 women's matches from the first round and there is a lot that can be bet on.

And Henman called on the tennis authorities to impose stringent sanctions on players if they are found to have been involved in betting irregularities.

"We have to be sure from a player's point of view that anyone who is involved shouldn't be allowed back in the game for good," he stated.

Henman, the former British number one, added: "People have always bet on tennis but the magnitude seems like it has increased, certainly in the last few years.

"But in some respects it's because tennis is so popular. That is surely a good thing - that so many people are interested in it - but if gambling is encroaching on the playing side then that is something we've got to manage very carefully."

Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper also believes there is a problem with betting in tennis.

"I think we would be looking at the world through rose-tinted spectacles if we thought it didn't go on," he said. "I think the way it's going it's becoming as big an issue in sport as doping.

"I think most of the sports are hooked on to it. Sport is the second fastest growing sector of the economy at the moment - and the biggest growth area is betting.

"So we have to keep our eyes open, our ears to the ground and work with the betting companies rather than just ignore the problem and think it's going to go away. It isn't going to go away."

The good news as they say is that tennis is becoming more and more popular contrary to what some others were saying.

Money once again is the real evil. But nothing new there!

The problem is nto the sport itself but the growth of betting and gaming. It's no coincidence that there are so many bets one can place on a gaem these days. You can bet on scores, sets, number of goals, aces, putts etc. The industry has set it up so as they can profit through bribes if you ask me. I don't think they are as claen as they claim. It's abotu time they regulated gambling in this country, it's the most costly vice you can get into and yet just cos you are tno havign a drink, a fag or drugs, everyone seems to think it doesnt cause problems. Well it does, huge ones, there are no limits and that si the problem.

Is gambling not regulated?
I take the slightly less cynical view that you can gamble on so many things because people are willing to. As long as there's a market and money to be made, somebody will offer what people want! For the same reason, there will always be 'bad eggs' in sport that will say 'yes' to the offer of making money out of match-fixing. I doubt that there are many sports that don't encounter such problems. All we can do is control it as much as possible and hope that the players value the integrity of their sport. :pray:

Sorry it is regulated, I mean to say more tightly regulated. My mistake.

It is ridiculous how much you can gamble these days and hwo easy it is, mainly thanks to the net. I remember the days when peopel rushed off to the bookies before it shut at like 4pm :o Now you can sit on lien all day and end up in masses of debt. Oh joy.

Thursday, September 27, 2007
ATP says sport is clean in light of recent gambling reports

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Associated Press

LONDON -- The governing body of men's tennis has dismissed suggestions that corruption is rife in the sport after Belgian Gilles Elseneer said he was offered $141,600 to throw a first-round Wimbledon match in 2005.

Elseneer, who has earned a modest $473,798 in prize money after almost a decade on the men's tour, had been offered the bribe to lose his match against another journeyman, Italy's Potito Starace, the Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

Last month the ATP began investigating possible irregular gambling patterns on a match at the Sopot Open in Poland between world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina. Davydenko, who retired hurt from the match, denies any involvement.

The ATP said that if a player such as Elseneer, then ranked 191 in the world, could instantly decline the offer, it proved that the integrity of the sport was intact.

"Fans need to understand that we have procedures in place and the most important thing is not that sports people are being approached but it's what sports people do when they are approached," an ATP spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.

Elseneer, who won the match in straight sets, was quoted as saying in The Times: "I had my honor as a player to protect and Wimbledon meant everything to me.

"They said I should take my time and give them my reply the next day but I only needed a couple of minutes to realize it was impossible for me to contemplate."

The newspaper reported that another Belgian, Dick Norman, said he had been offered money at Wimbledon to provide information on his fellow players but he declined.

"All the players who have said they've been approached have instantly said 'no'," the ATP spokesman said. "Our investigations since 2003 have not found any evidence that a player is sanctionable under those rules.

"Tennis is a 1-1 gladiatorial battle but it is no more vulnerable than any other sport when you look at it in the context of online exchanges and what they offer punters in terms of opportunities.

"You can bet on so many different components of a match because of the way online works, which is why we saw the threat and started to put in place in 2003 the way in which we could protect the integrity of the sport even further."

Tennis has an anti-corruption code which states that players and their personnel, including coaches, trainers, managers, agents, family members and guests, are not allowed to wager money on the sport.

Anyone flouting the rules faces a maximum penalty of $100,000 and up to three years' suspension from the game.

The code also says that anyone caught trying to fix a match will be banned for life.

"The responsibility is on everyone in tennis to understand what's at stake, to understand what's expected of them and to work with the custodians of the game in order to protect the integrity," the spokesman said.

Officials at the International Tennis Federation (ITF), which runs the four Grand Slam tournaments, said they had not been aware of the approach made to Elseneer.

"I wish he would have come to us then as it would have given us a chance at the time to ferret out the problem," Grand Slam co-ordinator Bill Babcock told Reuters.

"He hasn't done anything wrong so there is no question of any punishment but it's good people are coming up with this information as we need to unlock whatever problem there is."

:coffee: My thoughts.... I don't know if I should take that with a pinch of salt or not... but nothing is perfect.. so a little bit iffy...

You've pretty much got to laugh at the logic there. All the players who are coming forward have said no, therefore the integrity of tennis is intact?? 'cos i'm sure that the players who said yes will all be jumping up and down and announcing that they were approached and said yes :doh:

I know! :lmaao: :lmaao: :lmaao:

And of course every player thaye talk to is going to deny ever having been approached if they are guilty!

It's just a load fo b*llocks. They had to come out and say something, and if that was their best shot then the problem is hardly resolved. it's just spin.

What with Andy Murray now confirming the involvement of players in betting...Is it very serious? I dunno...Probably it affects only the players only out of the elite league I guess..I mean a Federer or a Nadal or even Dijko will find the glory of a GS victory far sweeter I guess ..Its only the other players who linger around the 50 something rankings who make only a modest career prize money would find a helping additional money far more easy.But Davydenko? I'm shocked..the guy seems to give so much of himself on the court. :unsure:

I know. Didn't he practice for DC on his own wedding day last year?

I know money corrupts, and Davydenko hasn't really gotten the sponsorship deals he deserves, but I would still rather believe that it was someone in his vicinity that knew something was up and decided to make a quick buck.

I also can't help but wonder whether, if someone really had gone to the trouble of bribing one of the world's absolute top players, whether they wouldn't have arranged for everything to happen more subtly. I guess if it did happen, they lost a lot of money in the end, because betfair didn't pay out. That looks a bit amateurish, tbh. :shrug:

Nadal dismisses Murray's claims

World number two Rafael Nadal has seen nothing to support Andy Murray's claims that corruption is rife in tennis.

British number one Murray told BBC 5live on Tuesday that "everyone knows corruption goes on" in tennis.

But Nadal countered: "I doubt Murray knows more than anyone else - he's gone overboard and there are no fixed games.

"I've been in all the meetings, I see what goes on on the circuit just like him and I'm not so stupid as to not know what is going on."

Murray told the BBC that matches on the men's ATP Tour are being thrown and that all players are aware of it.

The ATP responded by telling players they have 48 hours to tell the governing body if they are approached to throw a match or risk punishment if they fail to do so.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7039513.stm