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Match fixing is a plague that has been affecting the tennis undergrowth for years, especially trying to target the tennis players most in need of money, who are in the lower parts of the rankings. But that’s not always the case.
Marco Trungelliti recalled how players like Novak Djokovic reported having received offers for match fixing, but but he remarks how the Serb was not ostracized as happened to Trungelliti himself.
Trungelliti had reported attempts at match fixing in 2018, which led to the ban of Patricio Heras, Nicolas Kicker and Federico Coria After this complaint, he and his family received death threats for acting as whistleblowers, and were ostracized from the tennis world except by a few colleagues.
In an interview with La Nacion, Trungelliti said: “It hurt me a lot. It was a deep pain because of who I was. What I said was fulfilled and everything remained the same. Djokovic said he had been offered match fixing.
Sergiy Stakhovsky, who had called me a snitch, later came out to say that he was also offered.
It’s like everything fell into place, but it broke me, basically, because I didn’t expect it. That, in addition to how the ATP , the TIU, the Association and the ITF acted, was a tremendous combo, one stab after the other. All of these organizations fell far short of what is needed for things to improve.”
Last match-fxing shock ban
Alexis Musialek was banned for life by International Tennis Integrity Agency, after committing 39 breaches, because he was involved in fixing nine matches between 2016 and 2018.
ITIA said in a statement: “The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) today confirms that French tennis player Alexis Musialek has been banned from tennis for life following 39 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).
Musialek, who reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of 255 in 2015, denied all charges brought against them, but was found by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Raj Parker to have been involved in the fixing of nine matches between 2016 and 2018, alongside failing to co-operate with an ITIA investigation by withholding evidence.
The 35-year-old was found to have – among other offenses – contrived the outcome of multiple matches, received money, benefit or consideration for contriving the outcome of these matches, and facilitated other players not to use their best efforts.”
