London: A probe by a German newspaper has revealed that two matches at this year’s Wimbledon are under investigation for match-fixing. It also said that the investigation was launched after several specific and suspicious bets took place around the matches during the tournament.
According to the report by Die Weit, suspicions were raised over a men’s doubles match in the first round. There were large live bets placed against a favoured duo at “irregular times”. The pair won the first set, increasing the odds of their defeat. However, the duo ended up losing the next three sets.
In another match, extremely high bets were placed at the end of the second set on the exact score in the third set. There were also many ‘special bets’ on the maximum number of services in the entire match. Both bets ended up coming true.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which fight corruption and match fixing in tennis, has not released any information surrounding the investigations. This year, the ITIA has received 34 alerts since January.
In its latest report on the second quarter, the ITIA said that they received a total of 11 match alerts between April and June this year through its confidential Memoranda of Understanding with the regulated betting industry. Nine of those matches took place on the ITF men’s and women’s circuit while two matches happened in ATP 250 events.