'Tennis pro offered a bribe'

2007-11-08 15:46

Prague - Jan Hernych has become the latest tennis player to fall victim to the corrupt influences tainting the sport, the Czech alleging he was offered a bribe to intentionally lose two matches.

A day after Germany's Tommy Haas claimed he was poisoned in Moscow prior to his defeat in a crucial Davis Cup semi-final, Hernych has alleged that he was offered a bribe in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Match-fixing has become the game's bugbear in recent months following the Nikolay Davydenko 'affair'.

After a sequence of irregular betting prior to his match in Sopot, Poland against unheralded Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello, the Russian pulled out with a foot injury after winning the first set.

Internet betting site Betfair refused to pay out on Davydenko's 2-6 6-3 2-1 loss to Arguello.

Much of $7m in wagers, 10 times more than normal for such a match, swung to Arguello even after Davydenko won the first set. That unusual move led to a probe into the matter.

Since then several top players have claimed that they have been offered bribes to lose matches, in the process revealing the extent to which tennis is being targeted by unscrupulous influences.

'Would be crazy to accept such a bribe'

Hernych said he was offered a bribe to lose against Italy's Filippo Volandri in the first round at Moscow and against first round opponent Yevgeny Korolev in Saint Petersburg. The Czech won both matches.

"I was approached in Moscow and Saint Petersbourg. Someone called me from the reception to ask me whether I wanted to sell a match - in other words to lose it intentionally," Hernych told the 'Sport' daily on Thursday.

"He spoke in English but didn't identify himself. When I said no, he hung up the phone immediately."

He added: "If you ask me, it would be crazy to accept such a bribe."

At the end of October French professional Arnaud Clement revealed he had been approached by a third party about throwing a game.

"It's happened to me. I won't say where, nor the sum I was offered, but I've already been asked to throw a match," Clement said after his first round defeat in the Paris Masters to Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Britain's Andy Murray caused a stir in Moscow last month when he insinuated that match-rigging involving players was widespread, later toning down his remarks saying he had been quoted out of context.

- AFP