French prosecutors have opened an investigation over an alleged match-fixing suspect in a women’s doubles match at the French Open 2020. The investigation is being handled by The French police’s Central Service of Races and Games (SSCJ) is investigating the doubles game that involved Andreea Mitu and Patricia Mar against Yana Sizikova and Madison Brengle.
As per the results, the Romanians won the match before being knocked out in the third round. The investigation was initiated on October 1.
The Russian Tennis Federation said that there are no official documents to support the evidence, so it is too early to make a comment on a possible match-fixing incident. Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) is also aware of the ongoing investigation but declined to make a comment.
The TIU was set up in 2008 to tackle the threat of corruption in the game. The organization has the power to issue life bans for serious offences. Alerts flagged up to the TIU increased in the first quarter of 2020, but these cases rarely involve the ATP or WTA Tour events or Grand Slams. The TIU had reportedly received 38 match alerts between January and March this year a significant increase to 21 cases in the same period in 2019.
The lockdown of the sport due to the Covid-19 outbreak meant players were having no source of income, increasing the risk of corruption and threatening the spirit of the game.