World No.2 wants major sports authorities to act following match-fixing allegations in tennis

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  • Andy Murray breezed through his first-round clash in Melbourne.

    Andy Murray has urged sports authorities to become more transparent following the recent match-fixing allegations claimed by an investigation carried out by BuzzFeed news and the BBC.

    The world No.2, who cruised to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over German teenager Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open first round on Tuesday, feels tennis chiefs – and heads of other sports in general – should do more in divulging information.

    “As a player you just want to be made aware kind of everything that’s going on. I think we deserve to know everything that’s sort of out there,” Murray told reporters on Tuesday at Melbourne Park.

    “Some of it will be true; some of it might not be true. But I’m always very curious with that stuff across really all sports, as well. I think sports could in general be much, much more transparent.”

    The British star added: “I just think that it should be tennis that does a better job of explaining – they (players) shouldn’t have to read it in the press. You have to be proactive I think with things like this and go and speak to the players rather than them reading about it in the newspapers or, you know, listening to it on the TV or the radio.”

    Murray, who tweeted the article shortly after it was uploaded, says he was aware of the 2007 Sopot match incident involving Nikolay Davydenko – without naming the Russian – but was unaware of the “gambling people in Sicily” and other information revealed in the report.

    Unlike Novak Djokovic, who had said early in his career that he was once approached to throw a match in St. Petersburg, Murray insists he was never asked to fix the outcome of a clash at any point in his career.

    The Scot two-time grand slam champion feels more should be done to educate young players about the dangers of getting involved with gambling corruption, explaining how upstarts on tour can be vulnerable to committing such offences.

    “I do think it’s important that from a younger age players are better educated and are made more aware of what they should do in those situations and how a decision like that can affect your career, can affect the whole sport,” said the 28-year-old.

    “And, yeah, I think across all sports – again, I don’t think that that’s done particularly well. I think you should be learning about those things from 15, 16, 17 years old and being warned about it.”

    Murray also said he wasn’t surprised that the claims made involve top-50 players rather than those in the lower ranks of the sport.

    The match-fixing allegations have come on the heels of criticism directed towards the Australian Open’s new sponsorship deal with William Hill, who became the first ever gambling company to partner with a grand slam.

    The International Tennis Federation also signed a three-year partnership with Betway to sponsor the Davis Cup and Fed Cup competitions.

    Djokovic said on Monday he felt tennis was walking a fine line by partnering with betting companies while Murray says he finds it “hypocritical”.

    “I’m not really pro that, I don’t think. I think it’s a little bit hypocritical, really. Because I don’t believe the players are allowed to be sponsored by betting companies but then the tournaments are. I don’t really understand how it all works. I think it’s a bit strange,” admits Murray, who faces Australian Sam Groth in the second round in Melbourne.

    Meanwhile, Ernests Gulbis echoed Roger Federer’s voice in demanding specific names implicated in the alleged match-fixing.

    The Latvian former top-10 player, who lost a four-hour 43-minute 7-5, 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-3, 13-11 first round clash to Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday, has not read the article but knows it lacked detail.

    “What I heard is that they made an article, they tried to make a big deal out of it, they didn’t mention one name. Somebody is cheating? Give me some names, I want to know,” Gulbis said laughing.

    “I see no point of even talking about it. Everybody is stressed out, article coming, this and that, no names, nothing… I can say only about myself that nobody ever approached me. I don’t know if they’re a little bit scared of me somehow, or they think that I don’t need some money, so there’s nothing I know.”

    Milos Raonic, the No.13 seed in Melbourne and 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Lucas Pouille on Tuesday, says there is a hotline that players can call to report any match-fixing related information.

    “As far as we are as players, we are told anything comes up of this sort, you bring it up to the right authorities,” said Raonic.

    “I believe there is a hotline that we have as an option really to confront if this does come up. I think that there is enough – at least from what I understand and from my personal experiences, there is enough being done regarding it.”

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