Italian prosecutor calls for tennis match-fixing probe

An Italian prosecutor has told the BBC that more than two dozen leading players should face investigation over links to betting rings.

Roberto di Martino told the BBC and BuzzFeed News on Tuesday that their names have appeared in evidence seized from gamblers suspected of fixing matches.

They include two players who have been ranked in the world's top 20.

So far, only Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali, two Italians, have been investigated and charged but Di Martino says others should be investigated by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), the sport's anti-corruption watchdog.

"Surely if these foreign players were Italian, they would certainly have been at least questioned," Di Martino said. "They should have provided some explanations."

He added: "Interestingly, they are not so-called second-tier tennis players, but also players of some importance."

Di Martino has been conducting a two-year inquiry into a suspected match-fixing ring involving Italian tennis players and gamblers.

Tennis was rocked by corruption allegations from a joint BBC/BuzzFeed investigation published before January's Australian Open.

Last month saw the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announce that two umpires had been banned for corruption and four more were currently suspended while under investigation.

Unranked Thai player Jatuporn Nalamphun has been banned for 18 months and fined after being found guilty of offences under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.

Most of the 19 players and officials sanctioned by the TIU since its creation in 2008 have been operating at the lower levels of the sport, where both financial rewards and media scrutiny are nothing like as great as compared to the top-flight of the game.
Source: AFP