It’s usually money that corrupts sport. But in the case of tennis, it’s also technology. As I wrote this week in the FT, there are betting exchanges with a huge range of under-the-radar matches where you can bet on set outcomes. It makes match-fixing look incredibly easy. The hope is that the very technology that allows the match-fixing can also help catch it. Readily available data means anyone with a spreadsheet skills can track what’s going on. Surely, if BuzzFeed and the BBC can do it, tennis can monitor itself properly?
Here are the stories of the week:
TENNIS SCANDAL
The story that kicked it all off: The Tennis Racket
Is that true? One TRILLION dollars bet on sport each year?
Jon Wertheim points out that tennis’ vulnerability to corruption, match-fixing lies in economics
This is a polite way of putting it: Tennis’s watchdog seems to operate in the dark
Tennis (esp Chris Kermode) appears to be in denial
Lawyer alert! The curious case of Fernando Verdasco’s odds
FIFA
That other scandal. No-one writes about Fifa like Marina Hyde. Essential
ATHLETICS
Oh yes, the other other scandal. A second chance for Sebastian Coe
Coe: problem or saviour?
More Marina Hyde. Again, read it.
NORMAL TENNIS
QTWTAIY: Is Rafael Nadal in decline?
Can anyone beat Novak Djokovic?
Four of the last 5 Majors, but Serena Williams has her troubles
Pondering a tennis landscape without today’s top players
NFL
Good riddance! St. Louis is better off without an NFL team. The view from LA: welcome back, NFL. Welcome home, Rams. Welcome, maybe, Chargers. Now get to work, all of you.
How Roger Goodell and Cynthia Hogan are turning the NFL into a political machine
Hmm. That Al Jazeera doping report.
FOOTBALL
Jürgen Klopp is in charge of a footballing camel
Here’s an idea for football: value for money
BOXING
A horrific tale of a boxer post-fight.
RUGBY
Has rugby union become too complicated a game for its own good?
GOLF
Tiger Woods may not have been golf’s top earner last year, but his impact on the sport still there for all to see.
Understanding what separates Jordan Spieth from the rest.
That’s it – see you next week
