Authorities step up vigilance over risk of corruption

Tennis must remain vigilant against the threat of match-fixing and betting scams, even though there is no hard evidence that corruption exists, the sport's four leading organisations said yesterday.

The International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the WTA Tour and the Grand Slam Committee met in London to discuss the issue, three days after Andy Murray claimed that corruption in the game is common knowledge, though he said on Thursday that his remarks had been taken out of context.

"While we do not believe that our sport has a corruption problem, we do recognise that a threat to the integrity of tennis exists," the group said in a statement.

Officials have been discussing ways to keep the sport free of match-fixing, and have called in experts from other sports to help.

Murray's comments earlier in the week led the ATP to ask him to explain himself at a meeting, expected to take place on Monday at the Madrid Masters.

Ivan Ljubicic, the president of the ATP Player Council, became the third player to question Murray's remarks, following Rafael Nadal and Nikolai Davydenko. "I think Andy Murray talked more about what he heard than about what he knows," Ljubicic said. "I am absolutely sure that none of the top players is involved in betting or match-fixing."