Italian Tennis Pro Suspended For Gambling
The Association of Tennis Professionals continued its recent efforts to clean up online gambling scandals which have been rocking the sport since last year, suspending Italian player Giorgio Galimberti. Galimberti had been found guilty of betting on tennis, although no mention was made concerning betting on his own matches.
Galimberti was given a 100-day suspension and fined $35,000. He is currently ranked as the 1009th men's player in the world; he has previously been rated as high as 115th.
Galimberti is the fourth Italian player suspended for gambling on tennis. Potito Starace, Daniele Bracciali, and Alessio Di Mauro have also all been suspended and fined similarly to Galimberti, for wagering on tennis matches in which they did not play.
"The ATP's Tennis Anti Corruption Program is clear in regards to gambling on tennis matches by ATP players, player associates and staff," Gayle David Bradshaw, ATP executive vice-president, said in a statement. "It unambiguously states that gambling on any form of tennis matches will not be tolerated."
Ever since Betfair voided all wagers on Nikolay Davydenko's match against Martin Arguello, citing an unusual volume on the underdog Martin in a match from which Davydenko withdrew with a supposed injury, tennis officials have been hypersensitive to any appearance of gambling.
The French Open has brought litigation to prevent online sportsbooks from taking bets on Grand Slam tennis events. However, it was Betfair, an online entity, that first brought the problem public. Perhaps tennis would be better off cooperating with online gambling sites, using them to detect strange patterns and volumes which might indicate suspicious circumstances.
