Tennis Match-Fixing Scandal

Wimbledon has been dragged into the tennis match-fixing scandal when a secret files that was release suggesting that three matches may have been thrown there in recent years.

The documents have been passed by whistleblowers to Buzzfeed News and the BBC, who have decided not to reveal the players' names. But from a group of 16 who were implicated when the scourge was at its height around eight years ago, some are still on the circuit. The leaked files from anti-corruption investigators allege that the sport's authorities have covered up the extent of the problem and allowed some of the main suspects to continue playing.

It is alleged that more than half of them were in the starting field for the Australian Open, which began on Monday. The central allegation is that an examination of 26,000 matches given to the sport's governing bodies in 2007 provided enough evidence to tackle players, but was not acted upon. Three matches at Wimbledon are said to be in the files, though it is not clear when they took place.

The Tennis Integrity Unit, set up to police the sport in 2007, said they had a zero-tolerance approach to betting-related corruption. Their job was to look into suspicious betting activity after a game involving Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello. The two players were cleared of violating any rules but the investigation developed into a much wider inquiry looking into a web of gamblers linked to top-level player