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Another ATP Tour Tennis Player Cited for Gambling
CALGARY, AL --
The sport of men's professional tennis received another blackeye today as Italian player Federico Luzzi was banned from the ATP Tour for 200 days and fined $50,000 after he was found guilty of betting on tennis matches. The disciplinary action was party of an ATP investigation into anti-corruption and illegal gambling which has plagued the sports in recent times. Luzzi is the 5th Italian player to be investigated by the ATP for suspicion of betting and match-fixing.
Luzzi, who was ranked a respectable 139 in the world, was found to have gambled over 270 times on over 800 tennis matches between 2004 and 2007. It was also determined that several of the bets during that timespan he placed on himself to win. Of course, that will do him no good in the court of public appeal.
The ATP has said publicly that the investigation did not reveal that he had altered his game to affect the outcomes. Typcially, a player could sand-bag a match, or retire early from a match due to a fake injury if he/she is betting on a loss.
Some have said the penalties were too light. "A suspension and a $50,000 fine is a slap-on-the-wrist to players nowadays. If you do the math and convert into European currency, its only about 25,000 pounds", said Arthur Quinn, an avid tennis fan from Calgary who travels to Flushing Meadow, New York each summer to attend the US Open.
None of the current investigations by the ATP involve US players. In the past, the US has been very strict on sports players who gamble on their sport. Individuals like Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson (deceased) are still being punished for their actions.
How much damage this could do to the sport of tennis is unknown, but with the game already in a major revenue slump, these events only worsen the situation and make it more difficult for tour promoters to engage fans and sponsors.
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