Russian tennis player Nikolay Davydenko was cleared by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) on Friday after a year-long investigation into suspicious betting patterns on a match he lost to a lowly ranked opponent.
The ATP said it found ”no evidence” of wrongdoing by Davydenko, Argentine player Martin Vassallo Arguello or anyone else associated with their match in Sopot, Poland, on August 2 2007.
”The ATP has now exhausted all avenues of inquiry open to it and the investigation is now concluded,” the association said in a statement.
Davydenko, then ranked number five, pulled out of the match against the 87th-ranked Vassallo Arguello in the third set, citing a foot injury.
Betfair, an online bookmaker, voided all bets on the match. It received about £3,4-million in wagers on the match, 10 times the usual amount for a similar-level match. Most of the money was on Vassallo Arguello, even after he lost the first set.
ATP investigators spoke to Davydenko, his wife and family members and reviewed telephone records. This summer, Davydenko said he may have inadvertently tipped off bettors by talking too loudly about his injury to his wife during the tournament.
Davydenko, now ranked number six, has always firmly denied any wrongdoing and expressed confidence he would be cleared.
In the statement, the ATP said it interviewed ”a number of individuals involved in the match” and reviewed betting account details of those who wagered on the match. It also reviewed phone records from Davydenko, Vassallo Arguello and members of their support personnel.
However, ”certain individuals” declined to provide phone records, the ATP said. After lengthy legal proceedings, some records were eventually turned over but they had been ”destroyed” by telephone companies in line with data protection laws, the ATP said.
Speaking at Wimbledon this year, Davydenko said Russian spectators might have overheard him talking to his wife and entourage in the stands at the Sopot tournament.
”Everything was going on. I spoke in the centre court with my wife … [in] Russian,” he said. ”Maybe it’s possible, if I can say something, ‘I don’t want to play or I can retire.’ … some people can understand.”
That sort of inside information could have sparked the flood of telephone or internet betting.
Leading betting agencies last year presented world tennis authorities with a dossier of matches involving irregular gambling patterns over the last five years. An independent review commissioned by tennis governing bodies identified 45 matches that merited a closer look, including eight at Wimbledon.
The ATP has approved a list of 15 recommendations from an independent review panel to combat potential for corruption in the sport.
A string of players have been punished for betting violations this year. Last month, Frenchman Mathieu Montcourt was banned from the tour for two months and fined $12 000 after being found guilty of betting on matches.
Doubles specialists Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak were suspended in July, and five Italians have also been given similar bans.
Other players have said they were approached by people trying to influence a match.
Under new guidelines, players are required to report any suspicious contact from gambling syndicates within 48 hours. Sanctions include life bans for players found guilty of match-fixing. Players, their families and entourages also could be banned from betting on matches. — Sapa-AP