Etienne De Villiers, the Chief Executive of the Association of Tennis, announced that a zero-tolerance policy regarding tennis players taking part in online sports gambling on matches. Such players, who are found to be involved in online casino sports gambling, would face a lifetime ban from the sport. The phenomena where sports players are betting on their own matches is not new at all. However, with the introduction of online casino sports gambling it's now much easier for the players to full such a scheme. The announcement comes after a long line of criticism, namely by tennis legend John McEnroe He accused the ATP of negligence and said that the spots integrity has been jeopardized.
De Villiers said that they have never stopped pursuing "every potential and possible avenue to preserve the integrity of the sport". Tennis is regarded as a classic sport, a clam and prestigious event. Everyone would like to see it remain that way. An investigation into Nikolay Davydenko's retirement from the Prokom Open in Poland has been launched. Severe suspicions were raised as an irregular online casino sports gambling activity was recorded. Betfair, one of the most popular online casinos that operate sports betting, noticed that there were ten times more bets on Davydenko's match than other tennis matches and alerted the tennis governing body.
The online casino industry is working closely with the Association of Tennis and De Villiers believes that the ATP is way ahead of other sports governing bodies in this issue. The fact that all gambling are done digitally via the internet makes it easier to track such occurrences. Large number of bets, large sums of money or the combination of both can be spotted immediately and action can be taken. Hopefully, the reputation of tennis would not be damaged and the players would be exonerated from any such doings.
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