He referred to the lower levels of the sport as a "lamentably fertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity."
The panel recommended that the International Tennis Federation end its continuing data-rights deal with Swiss company Sportradar, at least as it concerns the lowest tiers of professional tennis.
The five-year, $70 million agreement, which was signed in 2015, involves ITF events ranging from the Davis Cup to Futures tournaments, the lowest rung on the professional tennis ladder. The expansion of live data rights to those lowest, most vulnerable levels of competition has incubated corruption, the report said, adding that the risks of the deal were not adequately considered.
A two-year investigation has found a 'tsunami' of match-fixing at lower levels.
Photo: Jessica Shapiro
"Whilst these deals have generated considerable funds for the sport, they have also greatly expanded the available markets for betting on the lowest levels of professional tennis," the panel said.
"The ITF did not appropriately assess the potential adverse effects of these agreements before entering into them."
The report cited a veteran investigator for the Tennis Integrity Unit who estimated that "hundreds of matches at Futures level (both singles and doubles) are not being played fairly, with the numbers reducing as you move upwards through the ranks of the professional game."
The available evidence, including a significant increase in the number of alerts sent when a match had unusual betting patterns or other suspicious circumstances, showed that the problem had worsened after the sale of the data rights.
In 2012, there were only three match alerts at the Futures level; by 2016, that number had increased to 240. (From 2009 to 2017, men's matches were responsible for 83 per cent of the TIU's alerts.)
The dissolution of the data deal was the first of the 12 recommendations in the report.
"Discontinuing the sale of official data at these lowest levels of tennis is a necessary, pragmatic and effective approach to containing betting-related breaches of integrity," the report said.
But the panel did not recommend restricting data at the next tier of men's events, the ATP Challenger Tour, where the rate of suspicious match reports is more than twice what it is at the Futures level. Data rights on that tour are owned by IMG, the sports and entertainment management company.
Live data from these tournaments can be used by gambling sites, particularly for wagers that can be made on elements of a match as it progresses.
Adam Lewis takes questions at the announcement of the findings into a probe on tennis corruption.
Photo: AP
Some of the proposed changes could affect top players as well. The panel suggested that appearance fees should be made public and that tanking in a match could be considered an integrity offence even without an intentional connection to a betting outcome.
Alex Inglot, a spokesman for Sportradar, called the proposal to end the company's agreement with the ITF for data rights at Futures events "unrealistic,""potentially unlawful" and "heavy-handed."
"Prohibition simply doesn't work," Inglot said in a statement. "Prohibiting data partnerships will not stop betting, live or otherwise, on these matches nor will it remove corruption risk at this level.
"Pre-match betting will remain available; unofficial data will be collected; generally available match statistics can be used by betting operators anyway; the risk of data fraud and ghost matches will increase; and there will be no clear contractual basis by which operators will be bound to reporting and transparency requirements. This will almost certainly encourage black market activity."
The panel insisted that the lucrative nature of the data sales should not be used as justification to continue the practice, saying, "the resolution of significant integrity concerns cannot be driven by the question of financial return — even when much of it is redistributed to the sport."
The panel also recommended eliminating sponsorships from betting companies.
The report said the TIU, which was established in 2008 to investigate betting-related corruption, should be reorganised to give it independent oversight, apart from the sport's governing bodies: the ATP, the WTA, the ITF and the four grand slam tournaments.
A statement released on behalf of those governing bodies said: "We confirm our agreement in principle with the package of measures and recommendations."
The panel scrutinised the sport's responses to integrity concerns before the investigative unit was established, including a 2003 case in which the ATP encouraged a player to retire to avoid facing discipline for match-fixing. Still, the panel said it had not found evidence of the cover-up, which was alleged in a 2016 article by the BBC and BuzzFeed that ignited a firestorm over match-fixing.
"The panel has not in that investigation discovered any evidence establishing a cover-up of breaches of integrity by the international governing bodies, by the TIU or by anyone else in relation to these matters," Lewis said. "However, the panel has discovered what it considers to be errors made and opportunities missed by tennis in relation to these matters."
Many of the recommendations announced were similar to those proposed by Richard Ings in a 2005 report on corruption and match-fixing allegations produced for the ATP Tour.
The panel called for the TIU to have greater transparency in its proceedings and better cooperation with law enforcement. It also criticised the TIU for lacking personnel with expertise in betting or tennis; many employees of the integrity unit are former police officers.
The panel also recommended wider training for players, better security around players at tournaments and methods to prevent online abuse. There were also recommendations to reform the pathway players take through the lower tiers of tennis to shore up "incentive problems" that exist when players earning little prize money are vulnerable to selling matches.
Many of the proposed changes have been carried out in some form over the past two years. Tennis has already pulled back from several major betting sponsorships, with the Australian Open ending a deal with William Hill and the ITF ending a partnership with Betway. The integrity unit has increased its staff and its budget, and has begun regularly releasing information about its activities in an effort to be more transparent.
The ITF has also announced reforms at the lowest levels of the sport, instituting a "transition tour" for the 2019 season in the hopes of culling the number of professional players.
New York Times
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