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Multiple Tennis Players Involved in The Biggest Match-Fixing Scandal

Published 12/15/2019, 3:14 PM EST

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On Sunday ZDF sports and WELT reported one of the German tennis players Max H is found to be involved in an international betting scandal. Currently, the investigation is taking place and reports suggest that there are more than 135 players worldwide involved in the gambling act.

The investigation is expected to take place in European countries such as Belgium, Spain, France and also in the United States. The US federal FBI has communicated with the investigators in Belgian and reportedly a tennis professional from Top 30 rankings with three ATP titles in his bag is found to be guilty.  

Eric Bisschop, Vice Prosecutor General of Belgium and investigator involved said, “This case is about the Armenian betting mafia network that has spread across seven countries in Europe and has been highly intelligent and cheated on a large scale.”

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Numerous small amount bets were placed on ‘manipulated games’ and more than thousands of Euros might sum up to each manipulation. “This mafia is very structured, it has people who are responsible for the accounts, others who wash the money and those who make contact with the players,” Bisschop added.

The scandals involved in sports and manipulating the game has been turned into a billion-dollar business. Experts estimate worldwide sales in 2018 at 1.6 trillion euros. It is extensively used by criminals incorporating mafia groups and syndicates. 

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The investigation is still under process and the judgment will be declared in the next few months.

This year the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) has banned more than 20 players, men, and women. The Argentine professional tennis player Marco Trungelliti was contacted by manipulators.

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via Getty

“There are professionals in the top 50 in the world who have tampered with games. You can’t say it is only cheated in the lower areas. No, it happens at all levels,” Trungelliti told the International Tennis Association. Trungelliti was involved in match-fixing activities while playing in Argentina. 

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Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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