Player Corruption Guidelines Demand Following Tennis Star Ban

Thursday 14 January, 2010 18:04

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The winner of the first match to open up this year's Sydney International on Sunday, Svetlana Kuzentsova, said that she and her fellow players were concerned about the lack of guidelines provided to them in the case of them being asked to provide inside information or throw a match.

Kuzentsova, who was speaking after her 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-5 Sydney International game victory over Alisa Kleybanova, was referring to Friday's ban against her fellow Russian player, Ekaterina Bychkova.

The Tennis Integrity Unit fined Bychkova $5000 and banned her from playing for a month, after it was discovered that she had not reported being approached to provide inside information and throw matches.

Although there was no evidence that Bychkova received compensation from those who had approached her, she was nevertheless penalized for not disclosing the offer until she was directly questioned.

Kuzentsova said that she had never been told what to do in the event of being approached to take part in potential sports betting corruption rings.

"I don't know if I have to go and see someone if someone comes and asks me because no one has told me what to do," she said.

She said that many tennis players faced a dilemma. "If you have been approached before and now come forward and tell them, will they ban you?" she asked. "And if you don't come forward, will they ban you? We need to be clear. How do you know if someone approaches me and it is a joke?"

"Do I have to tell the WTA every time I get told a joke?" the player wondered. "They can send you a letter, fan mail, Facebook and you may not pay attention to it and maybe it is people trying to catch you and doing it on purpose. It could happen and you could not be guilty."

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