Australian Open junior champion Oliver Anderson reportedly charged with match-fixing
Victoria Police announced on Thursday that an 18-year-old man from Queensland had been charged following alleged match-fixing at a tournament in Traralgon in October
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Your support makes all the difference.Australian Open junior champion Oliver Anderson has been charged with match-fixing, according to reports.
Victoria Police announced on Thursday that an 18-year-old man from Queensland had been charged following alleged match-fixing at a tournament in Traralgon in October.
The player was named by the Age newspaper as Anderson, who defeated Jurabek Karimov to win the boys' title at Melbourne Park 12 months ago and is currently ranked 743rd.
The police statement read: "La Trobe Crime Investigation Unit detectives charged an 18-year-old man on summons today following alleged match-fixing at a tennis tournament in Traralgon in October.
"Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit detectives and bookmakers assisted with the investigation. The Queensland man was charged with engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome.
"He will appear at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court on March 2, 2017."
The news is the last thing Australian tennis officials would have wanted less than two weeks before the start of the first Grand Slam of the season.
The start of last year's Australian Open was overshadowed by media reports that tennis authorities had failed to properly investigate suspicion of match-fixing involving up to 16 players who had been ranked in the top 50 going back over a decade.
Tennis' governing bodies subsequently announced the formation of an independent review into the sport's anti-corruption practices.
The review panel is expected to announce its interim findings shortly, with the sport having committed to implementing all the recommendations.
Tennis Australia last month announced increased measures to combat corruption, including the appointment of two full-time investigators to its National Integrity Unit, anti-corruption officers at all of its professional tournaments and increased prize money at lower levels where corruption is a serious problem.
At the second-tier tournament in Traralgon, Anderson won his opening match before losing to countryman John-Patrick Smith, taking home 860 US dollars (approximately £700) in prize money.
Ann West, head of integrity and compliance at Tennis Australia, told the Age: "We have upped the ante (but) it's disappointing, there's no doubt about it. You would be naive to say it wasn't."
Rafael Nadal, a 14-time major champion, was told of the latest allegation to potentially tarnish the sport after winning a match at the Brisbane International.
"The most important thing is fight against these kind of things," Nadal said, adding that the fact charges were laid meant "we are doing the right job."
Nadal added he doesn't believe there's a significant problem at the top of the game, but agreed it was "obviously negative" for the allegations in Australia to hit the headlines before the season's first Grand Slam tournament.
"I have been a lot of years on tour and happen almost every year," he said. "You get tired about this kind of stuff."
Spanish authorities last month detained 34 people, including six tennis players, involved in a tennis match-fixing network after a police taskforce found evidence of match-fixing attempts in 17 men's tournaments in several lower-tier tournaments in Spain and Portugal.
The tennis players were not identified, but authorities said they were ranked between 800 and 1,200 in the world. The investigation began after a tip given by a player to the Tennis Integrity Unit, the sport's anti-corruption body.
Nadal cited that police operation in his native Spain as evidence that corruption was being seriously tackled.
"I think that the sport is doing the right things to fight against that," he said. "And, you know, all the people that are not doing the things right, now they are in trouble."
In an emailed statement, the Tennis Integrity Unit said it worked closely with police in Australia to support the investigation in Victoria state.
"Investigation and prosecution of corruption allegations by law enforcement agencies takes precedence over tennis disciplinary action," the TIU said. "Once any criminal proceedings have been concluded, the TIU will continue to progress investigations under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program."
PA.
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