WTA Raises Concerns About Match-Fixing

With little fanfare, the Women’s Tennis Assn. moved this summer to increase its sanctions for fixing a match. The rule change will kick in next year.

Players caught match-fixing could face a $100,000 fine and an undefined suspension. Tournament directors doing so could be fined $25,000 and lose their event.

The issue of gambling came into sharper focus in the last week, spurred by a report in a British newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph, that the ATP, the governing body of men’s tennis, is investigating allegations of match-fixing.

Additionally, the ATP has entered a recent agreement with the British Internet betting company Betfair to inspect its client records.

Darrell Fry, the WTA’s spokesman, said it was considering a similar move.

“We’re going to look at it -- in light of what the ATP has done -- and see if it makes sense,” Fry said Thursday in a telephone interview.

Fry said the rule includes players, coaches, tour staff and “tennis insiders.”

“It is widely believed in the betting industry that ATP players and coaches have been involved in the recent betting plunges,” the Australian Internet betting Web site onthepunt.com said.

Such evidence has not been produced. Mark Miles, the ATP’s chief executive, addressed the issue this week in Madrid, saying: “I believe that our guys, the athletes in tennis, are among the cleanest in any sport anywhere.”

The WTA has been monitoring the situation and is not hearing about any betting irregularities, Fry said.

The ATP’s penalties for match-fixing are a three-year suspension and $100,000 fine.

-- Lisa Dillman