The squeaky-clean image of tennis is at risk as the sport braces itself for a court case which threatens to expose match-fixing by top players.
Irakli Labadze, a Georgian last year ranked 42nd in the world, will be accused at a court hearing in Austria this week of conspiring with a professional gambler to make money by ”throwing” a match.
Tennis authorities are watching the case nervously amid growing fears that some players and their associates may be profiting by using gambling websites to place bets on matches in which they know the result in advance.
Labadze fell under suspicion after he unexpectedly lost a first round match in last year’s Raiffeisen Grand Prix in the Austrian town of St Poelten to an unseeded local player, Julian Knowle. Martin Fuehrer, a gambler with whom Labadze is friendly, celebrated after he won â,¬17 000 after betting â,¬10 000.
But when he went to collect his winnings, the bookmaker, Cashpoint, refused to pay out. They claim Fuehrer spoke to Labadze about the contest beforehand and to have evidence, to be revealed this week, that Fuehrer knew the Georgian would lose.
Judge Martina Mohrat the court in Korneuburg outside Vienna will effectively decide on Wednesday if the match was fixed when she rules whether Cashpoint must pay Fuehrer his winnings. Labadze has been asked to attend the hearing as a witness to answer questions about his behaviour during the game, but is not obliged to come.
His agent and Fuehrer’s lawyer have dismissed the claims, but their denials have not quashed speculation that some players on the global circuit deliberately lose matches for money, especially in minor tournaments.
Justin Gimelstob, an American player, has warned that corruption may be going undetected and that tennis is an ”easy” sport to fix. ‘It’s 100 percent possible and I have my suspicions,’ he said.
Professional gambler Christian Plenz said: ”To put â,¬10 000 on a single wager is very unusual. Match-fixing does happen in tennis.” – Guardian Unlimited Â