Novak Djokovic threatened to open up a major talking point in tennis when he gave his views on the game in tennis, with the topic now likely to be put under the microscope like never before.
Betting on lower-level tennis matches at the higher levels of the game has long been a controversial topic, with enormous risks of corruption when players earn minimal sums for entering events.
Matches from non-ATP and WTA professional competitions in Britain and America also sell streams of their professional matches to betting sites and fund their events with these streams.
In this context, the steady stream of suspensions of players found guilty of match-fixing confirms that the game has huge problems with players struggling to finance their own careers and being tempted by the office to fix the matches of those who bet on their matches.
Djokovic has now made radical proposals that would ensure the huge sums of money generated from tennis games return a direct financial benefit to players.
“Due to the integrity of the sport, we as players are not allowed to put betting company patches on our clothing while playing on the field and we do not get a fair share,” Djokovic said.
“When I talk about fair sharing, I mean at least 50/50 with tournaments which are allowed to have the main sponsors from the betting world.
“So it’s as simple as that and to me it’s completely unacceptable. Personally, I probably wouldn’t have a betting sponsor on my sleeve, but I know that probably 95 percent of players would.
“I would support that, but if it is not allowed, then what we would deserve is 50 percent of the share that the tournament receives from these sponsorship deals with the betting houses.
“Billions and billions of dollars flow every week from tennis tournaments at different levels.
.@DjokerNolé explains this well. Even if a percentage of sports betting profits and player data goes to the players’ retirement program, most players will wait 1-2 decades to see that money. pic.twitter.com/BGz8i4OgKa
– Professional Tennis Players Association (@ptpaplayers) September 22, 2023
“The players are, I think, in a very disadvantaged position in relation to this situation. This is something I feel like we need to talk about more.
“We need to make players aware of this problem; In this particular area, the players are not benefiting at all and giving away too much of their own value, and the rest of the tennis ecosystem is obviously benefiting and we simply cannot allow this to happen anymore.
“This is a very important value and part of the money that players can get their hands on.”
The idea that tennis is a corruption-free sport will not be tenable if suspicions about match-fixing continue to arise at the current rate, with Djokovic calling on the game’s authorities to take charge of the problem.
“This is where I think the focus should be because having been a member of the ATP Players Council for almost a decade, whenever we bring up this topic, what normally comes up in the discussion is l “integrity,” Djokovic said.
“It feels like we have to fight to make sure the sport stays clean. We have to make sure that players are not cheating, that they are not betting, that they are not compromised”, which I support and agree with of course, but there is a kind of gambling psychological in which you focus on this and you don’t. I’m not really talking about the main problem here, which we as players need to be aware of.
Tennis authorities at the highest levels of the sport will be reluctant to open the debate on match-fixing and betting because the money generated from this aspect of the sport funds segments of the sport outside the main tier of the tour.
If Djokovic continues to talk about it, those who benefit from relationships with betting partners may find it difficult to avoid further scrutiny.
