Australian tennis great John Newcombe has warned tennis players targeted by match-fixers of the dangers of falling into the “steel trap” of gambling gangsters.
Newcombe, who has called for a lifetime ban for any player involved in match-fixing, said players must remain vigilant against corruption in the sport.
“The message I would like to convey, especially to young players, is that if you get involved with these people, you are in a steel trap (and) they will not let you out,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one said on Thursday.
“Once you make the mistake of agreeing to do something, they will hold it on you for the rest of your life.
“Then don’t do it. It’s not worth it.
“Gaming is a fact of life… you can’t fight it, you just have to try to control it as best you can and continue to send the message to players that they are going to pay a huge penalty if they do something (wrong).”
Newcombe added that he had “a question mark” over tournaments entering into sponsorship deals with betting agencies, as Australian Open organizers did for this year’s event.
Pat Cash, who was among Australian tennis greats honored with a personalized postage stamp on Thursday, acknowledged gambling sponsorship was a gray area.
But he believes that the storm of controversy caused by BBC-Buzzfeed report alleging match-fixing practices in sport was not in line with the real scale of the problem.
“Tennis players are very clear that they should not be involved and I think this match-fixing thing has been blown out of proportion,” Cash said.
“It’s tarnished tennis, just like some (problems) in cricket, boxing and wrestling… tennis is not like that, absolutely not.
“I’ve never heard of anything. There were rumors many years ago and I think they really tightened things up.
“I think it’s a bit of a storm in a teacup, but they need to stay on top of it.”
PAA
