A few days after the BBC’s report of alleged widespread corruption in the sport of tennis, Greek-Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis has stated that he was approached with the intent to fix matches.
While being interviewed the young player said that people usually try to contact athletes through Facebook and other social media, asking them to fix matches. However, he stressed that these interactions never take place face-to-face.
“It’s a very common thing. For tennis players, and I’d assume other sports,” Kokkinakis said. “Luckily in tennis we have a great program in place, we have the Tennis Integrity Unit and you just report it to them and they get it all sorted. You just try and block it away … there’s no time for that in this sport.”
At the same time, Greek-Australian senator Nick Xenophon from South Australia has called on the country’s authorities to ensure the integrity of Australian Open. The allegations “require urgent response,” he said. Furthermore, he also called the gambling regulators to ensure the integrity of the sport. “They have an obligation to urgently investigate and report on these very serious allegations that have rocked the tennis world,” he added.
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