Ex-champion: Match-fixing claims a shock
Andre Agassi says matchfixing in tennis “never even made my radar” while playing professionally.
The eight-time Grand Slam title winner, who retired professionally from the sport in 2006, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he never had any brush with the sort of corruption that was alleged in recent media reports and has been a main topic of conversation at the Australian Open.
Agassi also said he hopes — and believes — that the sport’s leaders will make sure matchfixing is not happening nowadays.
“I worry about that being a problem in any sport, because I think it poses an existential threat to the very fabric of what sports is about,” Agassi said. “I think every sport needs to take that incredibly seriously.”
The BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports this week saying tennis authorities failed to thoroughly investigate evidence of match-fixing involving more than a dozen players who have ranked in the top 50 over the past decade. No players were named in the reports.
“In 21 years I played professionally, I can say, either based on my naivete or my focus on trying to be the best in the world, that it never made my radar at any stage in those 21 years,” Agassi said. “So I don’t know if I was unreachable, untouchable or just purely in my own world, but it never even made my radar, whatsoever.”
Decisions, decisions
Adam Scott has made it clear over the last several months that the Olympics aren’t a priority. What he hasn’t said is whether he will represent Australia if eligible, which is likely.
“I said it’s not my priority at all, and that means I’ll make a decision at the very last moment whether it fits or not,” Scott said. “It’s not the main focus of the year. It’s not what I built my schedule around. If it fits in good at the time, I’ll play. And if it doesn’t, then I won’t.”
The first decision he has to make is on May 6.
Players have been getting emails from the PGA Tour over the last few weeks about the “Registered Testing Pool” regarding the anti-doping program for the Olympics, which is far more stringent that the tour’s program. All players who would qualify for the Olympics on May 6 must be entered in the pool.
If players become eligible after May 6, then they are added to the pool and stay there until the final Olympic Ranking on July 11. But if players choose not to compete in the Olympics, they will be removed from the pool and not allowed to be added at a later date.
The Knicks win
The New York Knicks are worth $3 billion, highest in the NBA, according to Forbes.
Forbes said Wednesday in its annual ranking of franchise valuations that the Knicks regained the top spot from the Los Angeles Lakers thanks to a 20 percent value increase from 2015. It says the increase was driven by a new cable deal and the highest premium-seating revenue in the league.
The Lakers have a value of $2.7 billion. The Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers rounded out the top five.
Forbes says the average NBA team is now worth $1.3 billion, a 13 percent increase from 2015, and the $5.2 billion in revenue teams generated last season was a record for the league.