Match fixing

paulisi · Tennis legend

RE: Match Fixing

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

It depends where you set the bar.

And as it's an internal discipline matter, not criminal, it's up the reg. bodies to decide what is the burden of proof.

i.e. they don't have to 'prove' it if they don't want to. It's their choice. They could say that here is what constitutes 'highly dodgy betting patterns/probably threw the match betting patterns' in a match and if you are the loser of such a match then you are suspended. End of.
The suspensions etc. would be shorter/less onerous than for occasions where there is clear proof but there are many cases where circumstantial evidence can be as good as clear-cut evidence (in a practical sense).
I'm not saying that's necessarily the best approach but it's up to the ITF or ATP itself to regulate itself. And for them to decide what constitutes proof. (Genuine insider info is obviously perfectly legal).

paulisi · Tennis legend

It is a criminal offence to accept money to amend the outcome of events - there have been criminal prosecutions in football and horse racing.

There is a huge risk of a law suit against the governing body if they don't have sufficient proof to say the result was fixed. They have to prove that the match was rigged otherwise the governing body will be sued due to loss of earnings, defamation of character etc.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

paulisi wrote:
It is a criminal offence to accept money to amend the outcome of events - there have been criminal prosecutions in football and horse racing.

There is a huge risk of a law suit against the governing body if they don't have sufficient proof to say the result was fixed. They have to prove that the match was rigged otherwise the governing body will be sued due to loss of earnings, defamation of character etc.

I don't think so. If you set out your guidelines and everyone signs up to them, you can generally lay down any rules you like (that are not discriminatory etc.)

They only have to prove as per their guidelines. School discipline committees and many other bodies do not have to 'prove' things as though they were courts of law.

indiana · Tennis legend

Getting everyone to sign up to waive their right to sue if they are suspended for match fixing strikes me as highly unlikely.

I wish I had anything better to offer though other than the tougher longer haul. Give the effort and resources to increase the chances of proof and then really hit them.

'Short' suspensions for (suspected/something less than proof) match fixing doesn't sit right with me either on a number of levels. Get it more than suspected and make it long. Match fixing is no short suspension matter.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 18th of January 2016 07:04:55 PM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

You can't get people to waive their right to sue. But if the guidelines are clear as to what is an infringement and what isn't, and it's been signed, then there's no point them suing. And the definition of an infringement is up to the reg. authority.

Sim · County player

One answer is to set up sting operations on any suspect players.

The very fact that the ITP/ATP let it be known that they conduct such operations and that anyone found guilty would be banned for life would probably stop the vast majority of cases.

What the ITF/ATP can not do is bury their heads in the sand....

EddietheEagle · County player

Absolute proof - beyond reasonable doubt - isn't required in a civil court of law. Proof in these cases is purely on balance of probability. Is this thing more likely to have happened than not? In other words a 51 to 49 probability provides sufficient evidence to prove a civil case. Were Davydenko and Arguello conspiring to fix a match in Sopot? On the Buzzfeed facts as reported, the strong likelihood is that they were. The revelations beg questions as to the TIU/ITF's failure to engage and, on a wider level, the ability of sports governing bodies to properly police themselves.

indiana · Tennis legend

5 full time members of the Tennis Integrity Unit, and apparently over 100,000 pro matches a year !!

Yes, they rely very much on info from bookmakers and whistleblowers ( who they perhaps need to encourage more ), but where are the real resources to investigate patterns, follow up on future matches involving highlighted individuals etc etc.

Need to show much more willing than the ATP wrapping up a press conference on the matter after 10 minutes when journalists had much more to ask and look as if they really want to clear up **** rather than just wish the **** to go away.

Edit : sh it - for anyone who wondered what had been censored.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 18th of January 2016 11:15:22 PM

Long time reader · Lower Club Player

The problem is the Tennis integrity unit only seem to be interested in what they call courtsiding,where people bet in running on matches courtside and so know the outcomes of points 5- 10 seconds or so ahead of tv coverage and score websites and bet accordingly. While you can make a lot of money doing this, it essentially only has an impact on bookies and betting markets, it has absolutely nothing to do with the integrity of tennis.

I was stopped by a TIU person at the French open after I had been standing at the back of one of the smaller courts watching a women's match waiting for James Ward to come on. He had apparently seen me scrolling on my phone, which he thought was suspicious and thought I was courtsiding. He checked my bag to make sure I didn't have any battery packs or major computer equipment, then once he accepted I had done no wrong, we had a chat about gambling on tennis, not once did the integrity of the actual matches get mentioned It seemed the only thing he was interested in was stopping people from betting courtside.

If they have such limited resources it seems they could certainly use them in a better way.

BeefyDeedz · Pro player

A short press conference and a TIU with a smaller staff than the local burger van. I am the first to admit that I have little idea of the actual logistics of investigating match fixing and the like, but I do know that having such a small investigatory unit for an issue that compromises a sport's integrity is only inviting this bad publicity. Chris Kermode looked to be in a hurry, too - the whole thing reflects very badly on the governing bodies, whether deservedly or not.

EddietheEagle · County player

Deservedly imo. They may be underfunding these burger bar units, perhaps deliberately, so they don't catch anyone. They can hardly claim, as Kermode - like Coe - does, that they're unaware of the problem as the ITF has sat on hard evidence for years but failed to use it. The general approach - and it seems to be a universal feature of sporting federations - is to manage these problems with doping and corruption as a PR exercise.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/35356550

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

I wonder how hard that "hard evidence" is though? To my mind BBC/Buzzfeed should name names or apologise and shut up; tarring everyone with suspicion is unfair, cowardly and stinks [angry face icon]

EddietheEagle · County player

www.documentcloud.org/documents/2685408-Betting-and-Telecoms.html