The Tennis Thread - Australian Open

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Jaws
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Man arrested, charged for courtside betting at Australian Open tennis

DateJanuary 15, 2014

Alana Schetzer


Police have arrested and charged a 22-year-old British man with betting courtside at the Australian Open.

Officers saw the man at Melbourne Park on Tuesday evening taking part in "courtsiding" - placing bets on the point outcomes during a tennis match.
Police believe he is part of an Eastern European crime syndicate that targets international sports events.

He was arrested at 5.30pm and charged with one count of engaging in conduct that would corrupt a betting outcome. Police do not believe any players are involved.

He was bailed to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday and has been banned from attending the Australian Open as part of his bail conditions.
It is the first arrest in relation to "courtsiding" in tennis after state parliament passed laws in April that specifically ban the practice as part of a crackdown on illegal betting in sport.

Several arrests were made in relation to soccer matches last year. Some offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

Victoria Police’s Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit and Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit have been working with Tennis Australia officials to weed out people seeking to "disrupt and corrupt’’ the tournament.

Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton said police believe the accused man came to Australia especially for the Open.

He said the quick arrest should serve as a warning to other crime syndicates thinking of coming to Australia to corrupt the betting system.

"Certainly within Victoria we send a very strong message that it won’t be tolerated and will be dealt with swiftly both by tennis authorities and by police," he said.

Courtsiding involves an individual sitting courtside at a sports event and sending messages to another person, usually overseas, to give them up to 10 seconds advantage on how a match is progressing. That time is then used to place the bet.

Police are still trying to find the second person involved and will continue to monitor the crowd for the rest of the tournament.

Deputy Commissioner Ashton said there were several people police would focus on but declined to give any further details.

He said any allegations would be taken seriously, because the global tennis betting market was worth "tens of millions every day".


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/m...open-tennis-20140115-30uic.html#ixzz2qXSNEt3n
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Ummm...

I don't really understand why this is a crime. If the betting agencies want to leave the markets open after an event has already occurred then that is their own stupid fault. Why are police resources going into this?
 
HaroldBishop

HaroldBishop

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Reckon we saw the future of men's tennis last night in Krygios and Kokkinakis. Could be exciting times ahead if they live up to their promise.
 
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Beejay

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I'd like to see the WTA or whoever to start to really crack down on the grunts and screams of the female tennis players. I find it unnecessary and unpleasant, and it probably could be argued cheating.
 
HaroldBishop

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Beejay said:
I'd like to see the WTA or whoever to start to really crack down on the grunts and screams of the female tennis players. I find it unnecessary and unpleasant, and it probably could be argued cheating.
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Not sure I'd go as far as cheating but I'd like to see it cut out as well. I'm at the stage now where I won't watch any matches involving Sharapova or Azarenka. I'm very happy these two can't meet in the final!
 
HaroldBishop

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I believe the opponent has the right to complain to the chair umpire but no one ever seems to.

Either way, I wish it was cut out. I can't imagine being there live, would have to put headphones on.
 
HaroldBishop

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deano the p said:
The last couple of matches I've seen Tsonga play he hasn't been all that impressive.
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He took care of Gilles Simon pretty comfortably and hasn't dropped a set yet. Sure, Simon is no Federer but I think Tsonga has been cruising along quite nicely.
 
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