Tennis under a 'tsunami' of corruption, warns independent report

There is a "tsunami" of betting-related corruption in some levels of tennis, a new report has said.

The Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis (IRIT) said the sport was a "fertile breeding ground" for breaches of integrity.

Corruption was related to online gambling, it added.

The review was set up in February 2016 following allegations that leading players, including grand slam winners, were involved in suspected match-fixing.

Buzzfeed and the BBC also alleged that evidence had been suppressed.

In the IRIT's interim report, however, there was no evidence of top-level players being implicated in corruption.

But it did say that players appearing to give up during matches - known as "tanking" - had been tolerated too often by the tennis authorities.

It is particularly at the lower levels of the sport that it faces a "serious integrity problem", the IRIT said.

It added: "The panel assesses the problem at those levels to be very significant. A TIU investigator described the extent of the problem at some lower level events as a "tsunami".

That is partly because players often struggle to break even, especially on the men's circuit.

In its recommendations, the IRIT is urging a significant reduction in tournaments deemed "professional", where players may lose money because of the cost of competing, making them vulnerable to breaches of integrity.

The review panel did not find evidence of a cover-up by either the Tennis Integrity Unit, or the International Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals governing bodies.

It found "evidence of some issues" at grand slams and tour events, but nothing widespread at the higher levels.

It has recommended eliminating betting sponsorship in the sport, and discontinuing the sale of official live scoring data in lower-level tennis to betting companies.