Mardy Fish and Bob Bryan have been fined by the ITIA for breaking sports betting codes. Unlike the TIU, the ITIA is an independent body established by the international governing bodies of tennis to encourage, enhance and safeguard the integrity of professional tennis around the world, as the official statement reads: “ITIA – International Tennis Integrity Agency – has issued fines against two US tennis coaches for breaking tennis betting sponsorship rules.
Bob Bryan and Mardy Fish, both fined $10,000 They now face a four-month suspension after acknowledging sponsorship of a gambling operator on social media Both former tennis players involved have fully cooperated with the ITIA investigation and promptly removed the relevant posts from their social media.
The above suspension will not take effect unless there is a further violation during the indicated period, which began on November 11, 2022 and will continue for the next four months.” After the defense of the USTA also came that of a former star.
Jimmy Connors, in fact, has a completely different thought on the relationship between tennis and betting and more generally between sport and gambling.
“Medieval Sanctions to Fish and Bryan,” said former star
During his podcast broadcast by Apple and hosted with his son Brett, Connors said: “Sanctions like this are from the Middle Ages.
Betting can be good for tennis and it’s time to understand it, enticing people to watch matches and keep up to date with players I am a tennis fan, but the idea of being able to place bets on baseball or basketball makes me interested in those sports.
Do we want to give people one more reason to watch tennis? Also, tennis could have economic benefits in forging relationships with sports betting companies.” Connors’ thought can be shared, but does it make sense to talk about medieval sanctions? If the code that regulates professionalism and betting has precise rules, it would be right to stick to those rules.
