Belgian authorities are reportedly investigating suspicious betting surrounding a series of men’s tennis matches.
The country’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office is looking into a host of games from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures tournament.
The De Tijd newspaper said that the authorities claim to have “very concrete evidence” relating to “hundreds of suspicious bets” made online and in betting shops in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and the UK; involving games played in countries such as Spain, Tunisia, Israel and Mexico.
Reports add that the bets were made in 2014 and the first half of 2015, with one punt of €7,000 ($7,800) paying out winnings of more than €100,000, while surveillance footage has been gathered from betting shops in a series of Belgian cities, including Brussels.
Khalid Ali, secretary general of sports integrity organisation ESSA, said that he was becoming increasingly concerned about tennis.
He said: “ESSA doesn’t comment on individual cases, especially those involving on-going investigations. However, tennis has become a growing concern; our Q1 and Q2 integrity reports show tennis as representing 71% and 83% of all cases of suspicious sports betting referred to regulatory authorities during those periods.
“There is clearly an issue within the sport that needs addressing.”
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
