Fixing focus is on game’s lower tiers
NeW figures have emerged showing that most tennis matches under suspicion of match-fixing are in the lower reaches of the professional tours.
For the first time it can be clearly illustrated that the threat of corruption exists mainly in the remoter outposts of the men’s game, at Futures events where prizemoney is at its lowest.
Sportsmail has gained access to a breakdown of what level matches are played at when an alert for suspicious betting patterns has been flagged up — although that is not proof in itself that corruption has occurred.
According to sources, nearly 50 per cent of alerts last year happened on the men’s Futures tier. By contrast just one Grand Slam match in 2015 came under suspicion. This was not at Wimbledon.
The breakdown raises further questions about today’s parliamentary hearing of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport committee, and its selection of witnesses.
Nigel Willerton, head of the Tennis Integrity Unit, and two senior figures from the ATP Tour — executive chairman Chris Kermode and legal chief Mark Young — have been summoned.
Yet the ATP Tour does not control Futures events. That is done by global governing body the International Tennis Federation, although nobody from there has been asked to appear.
Last week the european Sports Security Association — representing gaming companies — reported that 73 matches had been flagged up
GETTY IMAGES in 2015. There was, however, no breakdown of what type of events these occurred at.
Senior sources within the game have now shed more light on where the evidence suggests the problem has been happening. Just under 50 per cent of alerts came at men’s Futures, while another 22 per cent came at men’s Challenger events, just above that. Nine per cent were in women’s tournaments below the main level of the WTA Tour.
Only 20 per cent of suspicious matches came at the highest level of the tours, which suggests the total number was around 14.
There are roughly 115,000 matches played at all levels of the pro game every year. Going by the specific eSSA figures, this means that 0.06 per cent have seen potentially suspicious betting patterns.
While it suggests that there is hardly a fixing epidemic, there is no room for complacency if such a structurally vulnerable sport is to avoid a return to the last decade, which saw a life ban imposed on the Austrian former top-60 player Daniel Kollerer in 2011.
A spokesperson for the Tennis Integrity Unit issued the normal caution against betting patterns automatically signalling corruption.
‘All information supplied by betting operators is analysed by the TIU,’ he said. ‘This analysis includes many factors that can influence results, including fitness, fatigue, form, playing conditions and personal circumstances.