French Open rocked by match-fixing allegations
French prosecutors have come forward to confirm that an investigation into suspected match-fixing at the French Open has begun.
On Wednesday, reports claimed the allegations involve a women’s doubles match.
“It’s a first-round match featuring players that are not well-known,” a source within France’s National Gaming Authority (ANJ) explained to AFP.
French sports daily L’Equipe and German newspaper Die Welt have said that the match that is suspected is the first-round encounter on September 30 between Romanian pair Andreea Mitu and Patricia Maria Tig and opponents Yana Sizikova of Russia playing with US player Madison Brengle.
Suspicion surrounds the fifth game of the second set.
The Romanian duo won by love after Sizikova served two double faults.
L’Equipe reported that large sums of money were bet on the Romanians winning that game and that the wagers were placed in several countries.
The Romanians went on to win the match 7-6, 6-4.
Prosecutors said they were probing possible “fraud in an organised group” and “active and passive corruption in sport”.
A source within the investigation said that the bets that had been placed on the match were “abnormally large” and amounted to “tens of thousands of euros”.
“They must have been afraid to bet in France. They tried to spread the bets around other markets but the betting industry bodies know how to do their sums,” the source said.