※ [本文轉錄自 Tennis 看板]
作者: zerkchu (zerkchu) 看板: Tennis
標題: [情報] Emotional Kafelnikov "torn apart" by match-fixing contro
時間: Wed Oct 15 05:07:11 2003
Emotional Kafelnikov "torn apart" by match-fixing controversy
Wednesday October 15, 05:00 AM
MADRID (AFP) - Russian veteran Yevgeny Kafelnikov said he was cut to shreds over the match-fixing allegations swirling around off-court at the Masters Series here this week.
"It completely tears me apart," the 29-year-old declared after retiring injured after losing the opening set in his first round tie against Swede Thomas Enqvist.
Madrid's Rockodromo stadium has been caught up this week with the allegations of insider betting and throwing of matches which appeared in the British press at the weekend.
By Tuesday, a copy of The Sunday Telegraph article was hanging in the locker room in Madrid.
Kafelnikov was mentioned due to a first-round match last week in Lyon which drew a reported 135,000 dollars in wagering on Internet sites but the two-time Grand Slam champion looked close to tears as he issued a strong denial of any wrongdoing.
"I understand it (the article) says that Kafelnikov has been involved in match fixing in tennis," he said.
"I have no explanation. I don't even know what the figures are normally or what the bookmakers are doing, it's not interesting to me.
"When I walked into the locker room yesterday morning, all the players looked at me like I'm the worst enemy of all time. And it completely tears me apart."
The report revealed that betting on the Lyon match between Kafelnikov and Spain's Fernando Vicente was suspended six hours before it started due to what was referred to as bets from "marked accounts."
Vicente won 6-2, 6-3.
Kafelnikov said that he was planning to sue if the allegations continued.
That was a strategy taken earlier Tuesday by another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, who said in a statement that "echoes of a news item published by the English press associating me with the supposed rigging of a match" could be the subject of legal action.
Lopez was named in the article in the Sunday Telegraph after he retired against Finn Jarkko Nieminen during a first-round match in Long Island in August the week before the US Open.
The newspaper suggested that the Spaniard's pullout trailing a set and 1-0 down was of a suspicious nature, an allegation the 22-year-old strongly denies.
"As you know, I withdrew due to an injury, which I'm able to evidence at any time. I declare that this information ... is absolutely false and lacking any grounds."
Reports around the men's game over the past few months have pointed out that the matches of several players attracted huge interest and out-of-proportion betting from around the world.
The reports point to the "transparency" of internet-style peer-to-peer betting, where odds and total turnover are easily seen by all potential punters.
Kafelnikov hinted strongly that he would retire at the end of the season following the Masters at Paris Bercy which ends November 2.
"I was carrying on this year to try and give myself another chance to see if I was going to make the right decision," said a man who had originally said he would retire after Russia won the Davis Cup over France last December.
"As I see right now, I'm going to make the right decision after Paris. It's clear to me now what I want to do when the season ends."
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※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 203.219.101.22