Top 30 player ‘involved in tennis betting scandal’

BERLIN: More than 135 tennis players, including one ranked in the ATP top 30, are implicated in an international betting scandal, German media reported on Sunday.

According to a joint report by daily newspaper Die Welt and broadcaster ZDF, the players are subject to a cross-border investigation involving both the FBI and European authorities. Among the indivuals allegedly involved is a male player in the top 30 who has won three ATP tour titles, the report said.

“We are talking about an Armenian betting mafia network which is spread across seven countries in Europe and has manipulated on a large scale,” Belgian state prosecutor Eric Bisschop told ZDF. He added the scandal involved hundreds of small bets on fixed games, wracking up profits of tens of thousands of euros in each case. ZDF and Die Welt also spoke to Argentinian former player Marco Trungelliti, a whistleblower who claims to have been contacted by match-fixers. “There are pros in the world top 50 who have fixed games. It happens at all levels,” Trungelliti said.