Grand scam claims as former tennis pro Nick Lindahl hits court
THE Australian Open will continue to be haunted by damaging match-fixing allegations when a former rising star faces court on corrupt betting charges.
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THE nation’s premier tennis tournament — the Australian Open — will continue to be haunted by damaging match-fixing allegations in the sport when a former rising Australian star faces court on corrupt betting charges next week.
Nick Lindahl — who beat Australian No. 1 Bernard Tomic in 2009 — will face accusations he intentionally threw a match to an unseeded player at the Toowoomba Futures Six tournament in September 2013.
Lindahl, who reached a career-high ranking of 187, retired after the game but an investigation was launched when a betting agency noticed an unusual amount of money placed on it.
A friend of Lindahl has been convicted of successfully betting on the outcome of the match.
The case could not come at a worse time for the Australian Open after it was mired in scandal yesterday following allegations up to eight players in the grand slam tournament had engaged in crooked conduct.
Even the world’s best player, Novak Djokovic, yesterday revealed he had been approached through his staff with a $US200,000 offer to throw a match in 2007.
The claims forced three of the most senior officials in world tennis — including ATP president Chris Kermode and Tennis Integrity Unit director Nigel Willerton — to convene a press conference on the first day of the Open to deny there was an entrenched culture of corruption in the global game.
“Tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match fixing has been suppressed for any reason,” Mr Kermode said.
LATEST ON THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS
Mr Kermode said “BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago”.
But the case against Lindahl, arrested at his Liberty Grove home near Sydney Olympic Park in February last year by the NSW Organised Crime Squad, alleges match fixing and corrupt betting occurred as recently at 2013 in Australia.
Australian tennis legend John Newcombe yesterday said anyone caught match-fixing deserves “to be banned for life. No second chances.”
A spokeswoman for Victoria Police said it was working with other state police and the Tennis Integrity Unit since 2013 on corruption. Claims also emerged last night that detectives had been asking around about first-round match-ups at the Australian Open that could be fixed.
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