German newspaper Die Welt, has listed the names of nearly 30 professional tennis players from Germany, Argentina, Italy and Russia which they believe have been throwing matches.
The list includes Germany’s world No 32, Philipp Kohlschreiber who has denied involvement in match-fixing as the paper claimed irregular betting patterns on internet betting websites in two of his recent matches. He responded to the claims by saying, “I am shocked, these unfair and scandalous accusations are a slur on my name and reputation as a player.
“I am a professional sportsman and I always play to win. I am at the disposal of the German confederation and ATP to answer all their questions.”
An ATP spokesman refused to comment on the match-fixing allegations published in Die Welt saying, “We examine all information that is passed to us but we cannot discuss speculation and hearsay.”
Meanwhile, the president of the German Tennis Federation, Georg von Waldenfels, said he will be speaking “as quickly as possible with Kohlschreiber” to discuss the allegations.
Die Welt has highlighted two recent matches involving Kohlschreiber had an abnormal level of bets being taken on betting websites. One of the matches under suspicion, was Philipp Kohlschreiber’s match with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on 4th October at the ATP tournament in Metz. Kohlschreiber was favourite to win but he was defeated by the Frenchman.
These new fresh allegations are just the latest in the match-fixing tennis scandal. Just a couple of weeks ago Nikolay Davydenko was fined $2,000 for a lack of effort in his match at The St.Petersburg Open. The ATP are also investigating a match which Davydenko is believed to have thrown back in the summer which also had irregular betting patterns.
The ATP seem to be taking this scandal seriously as Italian player Alessio Di Mauro has become the first player to be sanctioned under the ATP’s new anti-corruption rules.
He has been fined £30,000 and banned from the international tennis circuit for nine months, after he was found guilty of making over 100 bets with an internet sportsbook between November 2006 and June 2007. However, none of Di Mauro’s bets were on matches in which he played.
Di Mauro believes the ATP have been harsh in their punishment and feels they are making him a scapegoat in the current match-fixing scandal casting a shadow over the sport.
He said, “The sentence is too harsh. Match-fixing is much more serious than betting. There’s a big difference between someone who has a ‘vice’ for betting on many sports – from soccer to basketball to volleyball and sometimes also on tennis – and someone who sells matches.
“I’m completely in good faith.”
