By Ranjona Banerji
The world around tennis appears to be in turmoil over match-fixing allegations. Or is it? The BBC and Buzzfeed broke a story on January 18 on “secret files†about match-fixing at the top levels of international tennis. Offenders include Grand Slam winners and players in the top 50 of the rankings of the game.
The story is especially explosive since the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, has just begun in Melbourne on Monday, January 18. The story is serious but the revelations are not new. These “secret files†refer to the scandal that came to public light a decade ago. The most notable allegation then was against Nikolai Davydenko, then number 4 in the ATP rankings, who was suspected of “tanking†or throwing a match in 2007. The match was highlighted because online betting company Betfair found “irregular activity†on the match as suspended all bets, reporting the matter to the ATP. Davydenko, since retired, was suspended pending investigation but as cricket investigators have found, proving match-fixing is notoriously difficult. According to the BCC and Buzzfeed story, at least eight players flagged by the Tennis Integrity Unit, set up after the match-fixing scandal, are due to play in Australia this fortnight.
Interestingly, a respected tennis writer on CNN wondered if the timing of the story was its main significance – to get maximum readership mileage out of the Australian Open, when viewership increases substantially over that of diehard, year-round tennis fans. Since the reports names no new names and most of the investigations are against low-ranked players – most not even in the top 100 of the ATP rankings, the story remains more speculative than constructive.
This is where the media runs into legal and ethical brick walls. Without names and without big names, there is no story. But if you do not mention the story at all, you are doing the public and the game a disservice. In fact, what the media needs to show is greater vigilance so that tennis can hold itself to a high standard. But there is an intrinsic problem here. Most sports reporting tends to be personality driven and increasingly, with hero worship thrown in. Under the circumstances, objectivity becomes a rare commodity. Some tennis writers prefer to limit themselves to analyses of the games themselves and playing styles. This leaves larger issues in tennis untouched. This problem can be seen in just about every sport. Does it bear repeating that almost no regular cricket correspondent appeared to have any clues about the extent of the 2000 match-fixing scandal that almost broke the game, in spite of (or because of?) close proximity?
There are in fact several problems that affect tennis but few of them get enough coverage. Journalists – and the tennis authorities – shy away from reporting extensively on drug use or violations of tennis rules by players. The fact that top players – especially in the ATP tour – are often fined for breaking time rules or coaching violations are papered over. Journalists appear to have almost forgotten how a much-respected umpire is not permitted to chair a certain player’s games because of personal differences. That players like Richard Gasquet, Marin Cilic and Victor Troiki were suspended for drug use is almost forgotten but a player lower down the pecking order like Wayne Odesnik is much reviled. By contrast, one rather rare loss of control by Serena Williams with a linesperson during the US Open is still referred to.
Clearly tennis authorities are too much in awe of their players to take stringent public action against them. Some burden therefore falls on the media. But, in this story, the allegations perhaps do fall short. We need more details and more investigation, not less, if tennis is to keep its reputation intact.