Suspicions of corruption for bets at Roland Garros: they investigate a player after a controversial defeat

A match last Monday in the first qualifying round for the main draw of Ronald Garros raised great suspicions. The victory of the Spanish Barnabas Zapata against the famous Israeli player Dudi Sela has led the French authorities to investigate whether it was a rigged match, according to what was reported on Thursday by the newspaper The Team. The tennis player 37 yearscurrently in the 456th place in the world rankingdenies any irregularity.

According to the prestigious French sports newspaper, which cites police sources, the alarms went off during the second set, which was won by the Spaniard from 25 years –133rd in the world– by an overwhelming 6-0 and in only 16 minutes and with the service in favor of the Israeli. Zapata He came from winning the first round by 6-3. The entire match lasted no more than 56 minutes.

At that moment of the match, they detected abnormal amounts of money at three betting operators on linebased on Cyprus, Armenia y Ukraine. The anomaly caught the attention of everyone in France. However, a source close to the investigation confirmed to the AFP that the party was being investigated but the local judicial authorities have not opened any official investigation.

The scandal became public. A point in which Dudi Sela Misses a shot served near the net. The Israeli player had no choice but to break the silence: he issued a statement in which denies being involved in any wrongdoing and noted that, as he had been recently injured, he was unlikely to beat his opponent.

“Betting on sports games in all disciplines exists in many places and of course I have nothing to do with what is happening there. Anyone involved in the industry should easily understand that, as a player who hasn’t competed for a long time due to injuries, my chances of winning the game against a player ranked well above me weren’t high anywayso it’s puzzling that this kind of betting was necessary at all. It saddens me that the media is thinking first of all about their ratings and don’t be afraid to damage the good name of a player, a person who hasn’t failed in his conduct for decades. When I return to Israel, I will consult with my advisers on how to respond to this strange publicity.” Sela it’s a statement.

After beating Dudi Sela in this controversial party, Barnabas Zapata he did the same this Thursday against the Italian Luca Nardi (200th in the ATP ranking) and qualified for the main draw of the Roland Garros. According to data from The Teamonline betting on the French Grand Slam has increased the 177% in the last 5 yearsuntil reaching 128 million in 2021.

KEEP READING: