Sports data company issues gambling ‘black market’ warning



A sports data company linked to an increase in corruption in tennis by an independent review probing criminality in the sport has issued a defence today while querying the recommendations of the investigation.

A sports data company linked to an increase in corruption in tennis by an independent review probing criminality in the sport has issued a defence today while querying the recommendations of the investigation.
Sportradar, which produces live scoring data from tournaments around the world that is used by wagering companies to facilitate gambling, believes a proposal to halt the publication of live data on tennis matches would be counter-productive.

This was among the recommendations put forward by the Independent Review of Tennis Integrity, headed by prominent London-based sports lawyer Adam Lewis QC, earlier this year after a probe lasting almost two years into corruption in tennis.

While several of the alleged fixes raised in that report had been reported on previously, the totality of it amid allegations tennis authorities sat on evidence of corrupt behaviour rocked the sport.

The report was critical of the partnership the International Tennis Federation entered into with Sportradar in 2012 in a five-year contract worth $90 million. It has since been extended.

The partnership allowed for live scoring to be published on matches from grand slam level down to $15,000 Futures tournaments, facilitating wagering on events played in locations as remote as Kalgoorlie, for example, by players ranked to 1,000 and beyond.

But with responses to the interim report by the IRTI due this month, Sportradar has issued a response that indicates its belief that their partnership with the ITF and other leading tennis authorities has actually reduced corruption in the sport.

David Lampitt, the company’s managing director of group operations, believes halting the practice would lead to more punters betting offshore in unregulated, black markets.

He cited the Review of Australia’s Sports Integrity Arrangements report, which was released earlier this year, and said the reforms recommended in this should be considered by the IRTI.

“Australia’s review into sport integrity made a series of practical recommendations to better protect integrity in sport through national co-ordination and collaboration,” he said.

“Attempting a total data blackout on a sport has never been done, or even trialled or tested, before. Counter evidence and expert analysis indicate that such an approach is likely to have a harmful effect on integrity, which would be hard to reverse if unsuccessful.

“So, the panel is staking its reputation, and that of the sport, on an uncertain ‘guess’, when there is good evidence that a different approach and an incremental process of implementing enhanced and targeted measures would be more likely to deliver successful outcomes and integrity benefits.

“If the recommendations remain unchanged, they would push the betting market underground where the integrity issues would be out of sight. This may give the veneer of improving the situation but would not deal with the underlying issues. These must not be brushed under the carpet.”

This is a point similar to that made by Tennis Australia in the interim report, which argues partnerships with Sportradar and other wagering firms allows the national body critical access to information in a country where betting is legal.

“To sever all relationships, and ban all betting on tennis would, in TA’s view, only serve to drive the practice underground and cause even greater integrity problems for the sport,” the submission, as reported by The Australian in April, reads.

“By way of example, we note the situation in India, where sports betting is illegal.”

The Sportradar submission argues that contrary to perception, tennis played at ITF level — namely Futures tournaments — has the lowest risk of corruption, instead arguing it is most prevalent in the mid-tier of men’s tennis.

This is the Challenger level. A tournament on this circuit begins in Traralgon today. The event was the scene of a fix from former Australian Open boys champion Oliver Anderson two years ago.

He was found guilty of a fixing offence but escaped conviction at a Magistrates Court hearing in the LaTrobe Valley last May.

After spending almost two years sidelined, the ITF recently found Anderson guilty of the offence but sanctioned him to time serve, which means he is free to resume playing or coaching.

Sportradar will provide a range of recommendations to the independent review, including calls for an increase in streaming of matches to provide more reliable evidence and regulations to provide for quicker sanctioning based on betting data and expert player analysis.

This article is a reprint from TheAustralian.com.au.  To view the original story and comment, click here


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