Bookie: Can't stop match-fixing
16th October, 2007
With tennis undergoing a major investigation into corruption by the four major governing bodies of professional tennis, a spokesman for William Hill said "There is always a way, there will never be a foolproof system. Whatever rule you have in place, they'll find a way around it."
Professional tennis players are not allowed to gamble on tennis, but the ATP, one the major governing bodies of the sport, has been investigating a match played last August at a minor tournament in Poland. Fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko withdrew in the third set against 87th-ranked Martin Vassaloo Arguello, and one online bookmaker voided bets in an unprecedented move because of suspicious betting patterns. Since the match, other players have spoken of match-fixing, and the British number one Andy Murray has had to back-track on his statement saying that match-fixing was common knowledge within the sport. The ATP, WTA Tour, International Tennis Federation and Grand Slam Committee are now trying to come up with a unified set of regulations to keep corruption out of the sport.
