Tennis Related - Off Court Serious Issues

[Cuckoo4Coco]

Background

via @Jannik Schneider

Exclusive: after a long research @MarkusHarm and myself publish a TV piece for the @sportstudio reportage today about matchfixing

According to ZDF info top 50 players Basilashvilli and Karatsev + their former coach Yahor Yatsyk are allegedly involved in matchfixing

Thread 1/
Belarusian coach Yahor Yatsyk, who coached and traveled with both Basilashvilli and Karatsev, has offered players money to matchfix matches on at least two occasions in the past. This emerges from secret investigation docs from ITF

ZDF has data of five allegedly machtfixed matches with unusually high betting swings in which Karatsev is said to be involved. 2 fall in the period of cooperation with Yatysk (2018 until 2021) - a doubles in Finland 2019 and a doubles in Kazakhstan 2020.

Yatsyk/Karatsev were investigated by French police during French Open 2020 - l'equipe reported this on May 2nd 2022. We can confirm that. Nothing happened since

According to ZDF info Karatsev was allegedly also involved in a matchfix at the ATP tournament in Stuttgart 2022.

ITIA didnt comment on Karatsev/ Yatsyk when asked. Nor on the question why both arent suspended despite investigations in France. Only Karatsev's former girlfriend, Sofia Dmitrieva, has been banned for life for matchfixing. Karatsev gave us an interview but pushed back his quotes
According to Russian media, proceedings vs Basilashvilli are pending at ITIA. When asked by ZDF, his management said nothing had been heard from ITIA. According to ZDF, his first-rd doubles in Wimbledon 2021 with Moldovan Radu Albot was under investigation for matchfixing.

Basilashvillis doubles in Wimbledon 21 is about conspicuously high bets on the loss and amounts up to half a million US dollars. Several betting providers and people familiar with the matter confirmed this to ZDF.

We spoke to an easteuropean coach who is scared to talk publicly
"Yatsyk has been involved in fixing for years, works with people who have to do with fixing in Russia/Eastern Europe. He always has a lot of money with him, is on tour and is searching for young players who have problems. Financial/mental. Players he can convince with money"

The coach said: "Yatysk worked closely with Karatsev/Basilashvilli, watched them for years. Both incredibly talented players. But they had financial problems at beginning and major phases of weakness and slipped in the rankings. Each in a critical moment he approached them.”
The 8-minutes-tv-piece will be live @ZDF in TV and soon online under the link and in the Mediathek (in german)
The 8-minute-piece is now available in this article. Its in german


Tennis Wettbetrug: Zwei Topspieler und Trainer verwickelt
Laut ZDF sollen zwei aktuelle Top-50-Spieler im Tennis und ihr ehemaliger Trainer in Sportbetrug, sogenanntem Matchfixing, verwickelt sein.
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/sport/te ... t-100.html


https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1546 ... 31649.html

If these allegations come to be true all three of them should be banned from any involvement with Tennis for life.

[ponchi101]

That is the standard process. Involved in match-fixing: banned for life. It has been done with lower ranked players.
If Basilashvili and Karatsev have done this, it is basically the stupidest thing in tennis. You would have to be paid millions in order to offset the ban.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

Karatsev was ranked as high as #14 and Basilashvili as high as #16 so they are definitely not hurting for money. It is extremely stupid if they did something like this.

[ti-amie]

Tennis star makes a grovelling apology after tagging Instagram post about NBA legend LeBron James with a GORILLA emoji
The Italian tennis star meant his post to be a tribute to his idol LeBron James
Instead, he included the image, which carries heavy racist connotations
He deleted the post as soon as the messages questioning it started to appear
Now he has apologised for his actions and says he made a genuine mistake
By JOSH ALSTON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 03:32 EDT, 18 July 2022 | UPDATED: 03:47 EDT, 18 July 2022

A 'mortified' Matteo Berrettini has been forced to quickly delete a tribute to his idol LeBron James after the Italian professional tennis player included an image with highly racist connotations.

James had posted an image of him returning to the popular pro-am Drew League on Sunday, wearing the jersey for the first time since the 2011 NBA lockout.

He joined the MMV Cheaters squad that also includes Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, wasting no time with 42 points on debut.

'Thank you Drew League!! Loved the energy from start to finish! All for the city of ​angels,' he Tweeted after the game.

James also posted an image of him wearing the Drew League jersey with a series of steam-coming-from-the-nostrils emojis followed by a crown emoji.

Berrettini is a self-confessed huge fan of the Lakers icon and shared that image on his Instagram stories, adding his own emojis - only something got lost in translation.

He replaced the snorting emojis with an image of a gorilla followed by a crown in a tasteless post that was quickly taken down when scores of sports fans alerted the tennis player to the racist connotations of using the gorilla.

Berrettini then posted an apology saying he never intended to insult or offend anyone.

'I am very sorry if my previous story post offended anyone,' he posted.

'I was informed that it can easily be misinterpreted so I have deleted it.

'LeBron is my biggest idol. Incredible role model and inspiration.'

Many tennis fans agreed that Berrettini had done the right thing by removing the post and apologising.

'Comparing a strong and powerful man to a strong and powerful animal is not wrong in itself, it can be a compliment, just like a tiger or bull. BUT comparing an African man to an ape has too much connotations,' one fan posted on a popular tennis forum.

Others accepted he had made an honest mistake.

Obviously he wouldn't have meant it to be racist,' posted one fan.

'Berry is definitely not racist. Looks like the dude just made an honest mistake. It was probably a “King Kong” reference and he didn’t even think about actually comparing a race of people to apes. He’s probably mortified over it hence the apology,' posted another.

Others said he had nothing to apologise for.

'Don't see the issue. It's 2022, if we can't use freaking emojis of animals to reference people then maybe just get rid of them altogether?' one fan posted.

LeBron James has not commented on the now-deleted Instagram story.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nba/a ... emoji.html

[Cuckoo4Coco]

Tennis star makes a grovelling apology after tagging Instagram post about NBA legend LeBron James with a GORILLA emoji
The Italian tennis star meant his post to be a tribute to his idol LeBron James
Instead, he included the image, which carries heavy racist connotations
He deleted the post as soon as the messages questioning it started to appear
Now he has apologised for his actions and says he made a genuine mistake
By JOSH ALSTON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 03:32 EDT, 18 July 2022 | UPDATED: 03:47 EDT, 18 July 2022

A 'mortified' Matteo Berrettini has been forced to quickly delete a tribute to his idol LeBron James after the Italian professional tennis player included an image with highly racist connotations.

James had posted an image of him returning to the popular pro-am Drew League on Sunday, wearing the jersey for the first time since the 2011 NBA lockout.

He joined the MMV Cheaters squad that also includes Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, wasting no time with 42 points on debut.

'Thank you Drew League!! Loved the energy from start to finish! All for the city of ​angels,' he Tweeted after the game.

James also posted an image of him wearing the Drew League jersey with a series of steam-coming-from-the-nostrils emojis followed by a crown emoji.

Berrettini is a self-confessed huge fan of the Lakers icon and shared that image on his Instagram stories, adding his own emojis - only something got lost in translation.

He replaced the snorting emojis with an image of a gorilla followed by a crown in a tasteless post that was quickly taken down when scores of sports fans alerted the tennis player to the racist connotations of using the gorilla.

Berrettini then posted an apology saying he never intended to insult or offend anyone.

'I am very sorry if my previous story post offended anyone,' he posted.

'I was informed that it can easily be misinterpreted so I have deleted it.

'LeBron is my biggest idol. Incredible role model and inspiration.'

Many tennis fans agreed that Berrettini had done the right thing by removing the post and apologising.

'Comparing a strong and powerful man to a strong and powerful animal is not wrong in itself, it can be a compliment, just like a tiger or bull. BUT comparing an African man to an ape has too much connotations,' one fan posted on a popular tennis forum.

Others accepted he had made an honest mistake.

Obviously he wouldn't have meant it to be racist,' posted one fan.

'Berry is definitely not racist. Looks like the dude just made an honest mistake. It was probably a “King Kong” reference and he didn’t even think about actually comparing a race of people to apes. He’s probably mortified over it hence the apology,' posted another.

Others said he had nothing to apologise for.

'Don't see the issue. It's 2022, if we can't use freaking emojis of animals to reference people then maybe just get rid of them altogether?' one fan posted.

LeBron James has not commented on the now-deleted Instagram story.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nba/a ... emoji.html

I do hope that Lebron James responds and says he accepts the apology and there he sees it as an honest mistake and it is no problem.

[meganfernandez]

Tennis star makes a grovelling apology after tagging Instagram post about NBA legend LeBron James with a GORILLA emoji
The Italian tennis star meant his post to be a tribute to his idol LeBron James
Instead, he included the image, which carries heavy racist connotations
He deleted the post as soon as the messages questioning it started to appear
Now he has apologised for his actions and says he made a genuine mistake
By JOSH ALSTON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 03:32 EDT, 18 July 2022 | UPDATED: 03:47 EDT, 18 July 2022

A 'mortified' Matteo Berrettini has been forced to quickly delete a tribute to his idol LeBron James after the Italian professional tennis player included an image with highly racist connotations.

James had posted an image of him returning to the popular pro-am Drew League on Sunday, wearing the jersey for the first time since the 2011 NBA lockout.

He joined the MMV Cheaters squad that also includes Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, wasting no time with 42 points on debut.

'Thank you Drew League!! Loved the energy from start to finish! All for the city of ​angels,' he Tweeted after the game.

James also posted an image of him wearing the Drew League jersey with a series of steam-coming-from-the-nostrils emojis followed by a crown emoji.

Berrettini is a self-confessed huge fan of the Lakers icon and shared that image on his Instagram stories, adding his own emojis - only something got lost in translation.

He replaced the snorting emojis with an image of a gorilla followed by a crown in a tasteless post that was quickly taken down when scores of sports fans alerted the tennis player to the racist connotations of using the gorilla.

Berrettini then posted an apology saying he never intended to insult or offend anyone.

'I am very sorry if my previous story post offended anyone,' he posted.

'I was informed that it can easily be misinterpreted so I have deleted it.

'LeBron is my biggest idol. Incredible role model and inspiration.'

Many tennis fans agreed that Berrettini had done the right thing by removing the post and apologising.

'Comparing a strong and powerful man to a strong and powerful animal is not wrong in itself, it can be a compliment, just like a tiger or bull. BUT comparing an African man to an ape has too much connotations,' one fan posted on a popular tennis forum.

Others accepted he had made an honest mistake.

Obviously he wouldn't have meant it to be racist,' posted one fan.

'Berry is definitely not racist. Looks like the dude just made an honest mistake. It was probably a “King Kong” reference and he didn’t even think about actually comparing a race of people to apes. He’s probably mortified over it hence the apology,' posted another.

Others said he had nothing to apologise for.

'Don't see the issue. It's 2022, if we can't use freaking emojis of animals to reference people then maybe just get rid of them altogether?' one fan posted.

LeBron James has not commented on the now-deleted Instagram story.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nba/a ... emoji.html

I do hope that Lebron James responds and says he accepts the apology and there he sees it as an honest mistake and it is no problem.

Please, let’s not cancel Matteo Berrettini! We need him for… lots of things.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mmmm8]

Berrettini very likely made an "honest mistake" but the fact that the implications weren't top of mind for him says something about the lack of discourse around racism in his life.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

For someone who claims that Lebron James is an idol of his this has to be an honest mistake by Matteo.

[Suliso]

Berrettini very likely made an "honest mistake" but the fact that the implications weren't top of mind for him says something about the lack of discourse around racism in his life.

That's likely true, but why should it be considering where he lives?

[mmmm8]

Berrettini very likely made an "honest mistake" but the fact that the implications weren't top of mind for him says something about the lack of discourse around racism in his life.

That's likely true, but why should it be considering where he lives?

Racism is not only about black people nor relevant where there is a high concentration of balck people.

But here's a result of 3 minutes of research on racism (and related isms) in Italy today:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and ... on-against
https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/is-italy-racist.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/trav ... broad.html

I'm not going to start on Monaco, where he technically "lives." I believed the most valued color there is green.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

There are supposedly countries with less racism then others like the Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, and Switzerland, but they still deal with it.

[ponchi101]

Racism is not the exclusivity of any nation. And other nations express it in different forms. Look at what the Buddhist society in Myanmar has done to the Rohingya. Try to understand how the Chinese view the rest of the world (we are scum) or the Saudi's if you are not Saudi (you are scum).
In S. America, you have racism towards indigenous populations and, from personal experience, racism from the indigenous populations towards non-indigenous populations. It is one of the forms.
Racism is not the same everywhere. It is expressed in many forms. And things that are racist in one place are not racist in another.

[eusebius]

Ponchi, you are right on the money here. I’m a classical musician and in the opera world right now, anti-Black racism in Italy has taken centre stage. The famous (infamous?) soprano Anna Netrebko posted a picture of herself in blackface singing the role of Aïda at the Arena di Verona: https://slippedisc.com/2022/07/singers- ... face-aida/


The American soprano Angel Blue, slated to sing Violetta in La Traviata in Verona this summer, withdrew in protest. The company defended its use of blackface on “historical” and “philological” grounds.

Clearly there is a lot of work to be done worldwide.

[ti-amie]

Dutch coach Max Wenders banned 12 years for match-fixing charges (updated)


Wenders with former student Demi Schuurs (right) and her former doubles partner Elise Mertens (centre)

Max Wenders, a 26-year-old Dutchman who has worked with several players on the WTA Tour, has been banned for 12 years from professional tennis after pleading guilty to a number of match-fixing charges.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency states in its announcement that Wenders “admitting multiple match fixing charges (and) destroying evidence requested by the ITIA (then the Tennis Integrity Unit) and failing to report a corrupt approach.”

When asked for comment from Open Court, Wenders issued this via email:

“As has been published by the ITIA, today, on 28 April 2021, a decision was rendered against me by an Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer, in respect to breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme.

I am extremely disappointed by the decision. I note, further, that the ITIA’s statement on it contains a number of inaccuracies, which I have asked it to correct.

Whilst I am unable to comment any further at this time, due to the ongoing nature of this matter, I wish to make clear, in particular, that I have not been sanctioned for fixing any matches and that the decision relates to events which took place between late 2018 and 2019.”

Most often, the people banned or suspended for match-fixing are relatively obscure players, and sometimes umpires. Coaches are more rare.

Wenders has been a hitting partner for Jelena Ostapenko, briefly worked with Anett Kontaveit and – most notably – coached doubles specialist Demi Schuurs.

Also notably, he is the former boyfriend of former world No. 4 Sofia Kenin.

Wenders also worked with Russian Anastasiya Komardina, whose career high was No. 89 in doubles back in June, 2018, but who has played just two matches since Oct. 2020.

12 years and $12,000
There had been a few rumblings around the women’s tour more than two years ago that Wenders might be involved in something like this. But it takes time for it all to get through the system.

The hearing for the case was a long time ago – in April 2021.

“Publication of the sanction was delayed following submissions from Mr Wenders’ legal team, however AHO McLaren has now lifted that prohibition,” was the explanation in the press release.

Comprehensive list of breaches for Wenders

Section D1.d of the 2019 TACP: No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive, attempt to contrive, agree to contrive, or conspire to contrive the outcome, or any other aspect, of any Event.”

And then, Section D.1.e of the 2018 TACP: “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, facilitate any Player to not use his or her best efforts in any Event.”

Section D.2.b.ii of the 2019 TACP: “In the event any Player is approached by any person who offers or provides any type of money, benefit or Consideration to a Player to (i) influence the outcome or any other aspect of any Event, or (ii) provide Inside Information, it shall be the Player’s obligation to report such incident to the TIU as soon as possible.”Section F.2.b of the 2019 TACP: “All Covered Persons must cooperate fully with investigations conducted by the TIU including giving evidence at hearings, if requested.

After a Covered Person receives a TIU request for an initial interview or otherwise becomes aware of any TIU investigation involving the Covered Person, the Covered Person shall (i) preserve and not tamper with, damage, disable, destroy or otherwise alter any evidence (including any personal devices described in Section F.2.c.i.) or other information related to any Corruption Offense and (ii) not solicit, facilitate or advise any other person to fail to preserve, tamper with, damage, disable, destroy or otherwise alter any evidence or other information related to any Corruption Offense.”

Short career, long on drama

Kenin made the couple’s relationship public a year ago on Wenders’ 26th birthday (below), in the midst of all the domestic drama surrounding her split with father/coach Alex.



Despite some of the social-media and clickbait site chatter out there, he was never her coach.

But they had been an on-and-off couple for years before that, even before Kenin won the Australian Open back in 2020. And we’re told it was … pretty fraught.

At one point, Wenders had been placed on the WTA’s “do-not-credential” list, which made it very difficult for him to earn a living.

But that relationship ended last year.

https://opencourt.ca/2022/07/27/dutch-c ... ch-fixing/

[ponchi101]

Basically, career over. Can't see such a person coming back to the tour.