Wimbledon Too?

Wimbledon Too?

One would have thought that match-fixing was a cancer of the sporting world confined to games like cricket and to countries like South Africa, Australia, Pakistan and India. But now a newspaper like the Sunday Times of London tells us that match-fixing is a malaise that could have spread even to tennis and even to the hallowed greens of Wimbledon. The newspaper tells us that at least eight earlier Wimbledon matches had been decided beforehand by a betting syndicate. In fact, the syndicate even decided which of the matches shall be won in straight sets, thus saving everyone a lot of time and energy. Earlier this year, Tennis Australia had banned all betting sites in the communication room of the Australian Open to prevent illegal betting. Thereafter, Andrew Jarrett, chief tournament referee of Wimbledon, was asked whether Wimbledon was contemplating similar measures. While Jarrett did not rule out the possibility of matches being fixed in Wimbledon, he did not think that the Wimbledon organizers would be employing any measures to prevent such practices this time. The only security measure being introduced is banning the entry of anyone other than the players' coaches into the changing rooms. This would seem to be an adequate security measure if we believe that no tennis coach could possibly have anything to do with match-fixing. But not all of them are necessarily saints. According to the Sunday Times, Russian and Eastern European gamblers are behind much of the illegal betting. There is also a prominent Austrian syndicate. According to reports, more than £450 million (Rs 3,812 crore) was bet on Wimbledon matches last year through just one British internet site. It all goes to prove that nothing stays pristine any more — not even Wimbledon. However, there is every possibility of Western Europe blaming it all on the decadence of Eastern Europe that is breaking up after Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika. Source: sentinel assam editorial