Tennis match-fixing scandal: Integrity Unit hits back after critical ESSA report

London: The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) was adamant Thursday that a report highlighting an alarming incidence of suspicious betting activity within the sport was not the same thing as evidence of corruption.

According to figures compiled by ESSA, a gambling all sports watchdog, of 100 suspicious events it noted in 2015, 73 came from tennis matches.

However, in a statement released to Britain`s Press Association, the TIU said: "ESSA is one of the organisations that has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tennis Integrity Unit.

"All information supplied by betting operators is analysed by the TIU. This analysis includes many other factors that can influence results, including player fitness, fatigue, form, playing conditions and personal circumstances.

"If the analysis suggests suspicious activity, the TIU moves to investigation, which includes interviewing players, taking phones and laptops.

"An alert can be an indicator of suspicious activity. But it is not proof or evidence that corruption has taken place.

"On its own, betting data is not sufficient to bring forward a successful prosecution; it has to be considered, assessed and verified along with the TIU`s many other sources of intelligence.

"Statistics of the kind released today (Thursday) by ESSA must be considered in that light."

Tennis was hit by allegations over elite-level match-fixing made by the BBC and BuzzFeed shortly before the start of the Australian Open last month.

After those allegations became public, tennis authorities announced an independent review into their fight against corruption.

And last week saw the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announce that two umpires had been banned for corruption and four more were currently suspended while under investigation.

Meanwhile on Wednesday the TIU said unranked Thai player Jatuporn Nalamphun had been banned for 18 months and fined after being found guilty of offences under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.

According to the ESSA report, more than a third of the suspicious tennis matches took place in the final quarter of 2015.

ESSA said 24 tennis matches led to alerts from betting companies compared to eight football matches, one snooker match, one ice hockey match and one greyhound race.

An ESSA alert is issued when suspicious transactions are flagged up by the organisation`s members.

Where evidence of potentially fraudulent activity emerges, ESSA informs the relevant sports governing body.

ESSA chairman Mike O`Kane said: "The start of 2016 has seen a worldwide focus on alleged match-fixing in tennis. The data contained in ESSA`s Q1-3 reports has been used to highlight those concerns.

"The data in our Q4 integrity report reflects previous quarters and, whilst tennis constituted the largest proportion of suspicious betting alerts identified by ESSA members, it should be noted that the vast majority of tennis events are fair."

Most of the 19 players and officials sanctioned by the TIU since its creation in 2008 have been operating at the lower levels of the sport, where both financial rewards and media scrutiny are nothing like as great as compared to the top-flight of the game.