Tennis match-fixing: ATP chief denies corruption is ‘widespread’ amid latest claims

Chris Kermode, who has fronted up to this week’s headline-grabbing allegations about match-fixing more than any other administrator, is adamant. The executive chairman and president of the Association of Tennis Professionals knows that his sport must remain vigilant and accepts that there have been occasional cases of corruption, but insists that there has been no cover-up and that sufficient resources are being made available to fight the problem.

A much-publicised investigation by BuzzFeed News and the BBC alleged that corruption at the highest level of tennis was “widespread” and suggested that matches at Wimbledon and the French Open were among those under suspicion.

The Tennis Integrity Unit, which was established in 2008 to combat corruption, is funded jointly by the International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the Women’s Tennis Association and the four Grand Slam tournaments. However, it was Kermode who led the initial response to the allegations this week and it has been the 51-year-old Briton – a former tournament director of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club – who has continued to outline how the sport is doing all it can to fight corruption.

There has been plenty of ill-informed comment from outside tennis in the last 72 hours. Suggestions that there has been a cover-up particularly irritate Kermode. “We deny 100 per cent the insinuation that the governing bodies are suppressing evidence and that there’s a Fifa-type scandal,” he insisted here yesterday from his temporary base in one of Tennis Australia’s offices at Melbourne Park.

Kermode said that most of the allegations about a failure by the tennis authorities to take action against individuals stemmed from the inquiry set up in the wake of a 2007 case surrounding a match between Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello at the Sopot Open in Poland. Gambling companies reported some remarkable betting fluctuations during that match, but after a year-long independent inquiry no action was taken against the players.

“I’m not saying that wasn’t a big issue at the time, but we have answered all those questions,” Kermode said. “There was an independent investigation by a unit from the British Horseracing Authority and they determined that there was insufficient evidence. So to keep going back to that is just traipsing over old ground.”

Kermode is also keen to dispute the use of the word “widespread” in reports of possible corruption. Pointing out that Richard Ings, a former ATP vice-president, had told the BuzzFeed investigation that “five or six players” had told him they had been invited to throw matches, Kermode said: “That’s five or six too many and we don’t want any of them in the game, but the suggestion that this is prevalent everywhere is [wrong]. That doesn’t mean that we can be complacent. We have to remain vigilant on this. But I think we have to keep this in perspective.”

He added: “We’re talking about a handful of players among those thousands [who play the game] who might be tempted to cross the line and go into criminality.”

While the Tennis Integrity Unit prefers to operate under the radar – it was a remarkable feat of public relations to put Nigel Willerton, the TIU’s director of integrity, in front of a press conference here this week – Kermode is keen to show to the world that any lack of public profile (which in itself is probably no bad thing, given the nature of the organisation’s work) is not matched by a lack of resources. Nearly £10m has already been invested in the TIU.

“Nigel Willerton has at no time asked for more resources and not got it,” Kermode said. “Every time he wants more money – and we’re openly saying, ‘Do you want more money to do this?’ – we would give it.”

Nevertheless, is the TIU’s staff of six big enough to police a sport played all around the world? “[That might not seem a lot] on the surface, when you consider 100,000 matches are played every year at 1,500 tournaments, but it’s not just a question of throwing people at this,” Kermode said.

“It’s how it’s structured. For example, the Tennis Integrity Unit has huge reach within betting companies to obtain betting analysis. You then go into working with law enforcement agencies around the world. There’s a much bigger reach than the six investigators that we have.”

Willerton has asked to see whatever documentation the BuzzFeed/BBC investigation can provide. The TIU can also request to see players’ phones and computers as part of its inquiries. Any players who refuse to co-operate can be banned for two years. Nevertheless, the TIU clearly lacks the powers of law enforcement agencies around the world.

“It goes without saying that the more powers the unit has the better,” Kermode said. “We would be in full favour of them having as much power as possible. On the Tennis Integrity Unit board, which is comprised of all the governing bodies, we do constantly review this programme. We need to be ongoing. This is not a piece of work where we will stop and say, ‘Right, we have the definitive programme’. Whatever we do next is going to be up for review.”

Since its formation, the TIU has successfully “prosecuted” 16 people, all from the sport’s lower ranks. With prize-money so low at Challenger level and below, it can be difficult for players ranked outside the world’s top 150 to make a living from the sport. That, it can be assumed, is why players from the lower tiers might be more vulnerable to approaches from corrupt gamblers.

“Is the likelihood that it’s more prevalent in the lower reaches?” Kermode said. “Yes, for a whole variety of reasons, though it’s not just money. Matches at Futures and Challengers are played in front of very few people.”

He added: “This is possibly a good time to look at getting more information as to where we believe those suspicious matches are. And you probably will find that they’re more at a lower level.”

Kermode pointed out that there had been significant increases in prize-money on the Challenger tour recently, with further rises in the pipeline. “I hear it a lot and it’s a great question to ask: why isn’t there more money in Challengers? But where is it coming from? They don’t have sponsors or TV rights, so the business model is not the same as at tour level.

“Equally, we don’t want to create an environment where somebody actually earns a living for 10 years playing on the Challenger tour. That’s not the point of the Challenger tour. The Challenger tour is there as a stepping stone to progress upwards. What we’re going to do at the ATP is ensure that there is always an incentive for players to be playing upwards rather than playing downwards.”

All players joining the tour who are ranked inside the world’s top 250 learn about anti-corruption, as well as anti-doping procedures and other aspects of life on the tour, at the annual ATP University. “What we’re doing is to bring that education programme into Challengers because it’s not just about throwing money at the Challenger tour in terms of prize-money,” Kermode said. “You start that education process when the players are 15 or 16, before they even get on to the main tour.”

Ultimately, Kermode agrees with Roger Federer’s contention that match-fixing is not just about struggling players trying to make ends meet. “It’s an easy jump to say, ‘You can just buy your way out of this. If there’s more money it won’t happen’,” Kermode said. “I think it’s about each person’s own integrity.”