The BBC and BuzzFeed claimed 16 top-50 players in the past decade, including Grand Slam champions, had been repeatedly suspected of fixing matches for betting syndicates.
Swiss tennis sensation Roger Federer was relatively irked by the match fixing allegations which rocked the tennis world on Monday and said that the names of fixesr should be revealed as soon as possible. Incidentally this was the opening day of this year's Australian Open also.
The BBC and BuzzFeed claimed 16 top-50 players in the past decade, including Grand Slam champions, had been repeatedly suspected of fixing matches for betting syndicates. Three suspect matches were at Wimbledon, and eight of the players under suspicion were due to take to the courts in the Australian Open, the report claimed. None of the "core group" of 16 players had faced sanctions, added the report, which was based on secret files leaked by a group of anonymous whistle-blowers.
The Swiss ace said that he was waiting patiently to know the names of the wrong doers. "I would love to hear names. Then at least it's concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it. Was it the player? Was it the support team? Who was it? Was it before? Was it a doubles player, a singles player? Which Slam?" Federer was quoted as saying by the Salt Lake tribune.
Also Read: Tennis authorities refute allegations of suppressing match-fixing incidents
"It's super serious and it's super important to maintain the integrity of our sport. So how high up does it go? The higher it goes, the more surprised I would be," Federer added.
Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) chief Chris Kermode said the timing of the report was "disappointing" and rejected any suggestion that match-fixing had been covered up. "The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated," Kermode told reporters. "And while the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information, and we always do."
Also Read: Tennis match-fixing: Novak Djokovic was offered $200,000 to throw a match
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic however raised eyebrows when he admitted that a member of his staff was approached about fixing a match early in his career, and he questioned whether betting companies should be allowed to sponsor big tennis tournaments.
The reigning Australian Open champion said that as far as he was aware there was no longer a problem with what he described as a "crime in sport" at the top level of tennis, but added that he had once been approached indirectly to throw a match. "I was not approached directly, I was approached through people that were with my team," he said.
The leaked files included details of an investigation into a 2007 match which world number four Nikolay Davydenko lost to 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello. It found insufficient evidence of corrupt practice by either player. But the report said the probe uncovered syndicates in Russia and Italy making hundreds of thousands of dollars betting on matches investigators thought to be fixed.
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