| Grantland Rice said many wise things during his | | | | linked to a Croatian gambling syndicate with ties to |
| legendary sports writing career. The wisest: "It's not | | | | organized crime and sentenced to 29 months in |
| whether you win or lose, it's how you play the | | | | prison. Other referees and players are implicated; two |
| game." | | | | of the 13 matches under investigation are confirmed |
| That goes double for handicappers. Haralabos | | | | fixed. |
| Voulgaris has won a considerable amount of money | | | | Other cases of suspected match-fixing are on the |
| betting on NBA games. But the Tim Donaghy scandal | | | | books but have yet to be proven. The most |
| has made him think twice about his profession. "I | | | | damaging scandal outside the Donaghy investigation |
| spent an unhealthy amount of time poring over old | | | | involves professional tennis. Nikolay Davydenko |
| games Donaghy reffed and seeing how I was | | | | remains under suspicion for a 2007 default loss in |
| affected," Voulgaris told TrueHoop's Henry Abbott | | | | Poland to Martin Vassallo Arguello; Davydenko was |
| this past June. | | | | the top seed for the tournament, while Vassallo was |
| "It was rather disturbing and it kind of turned me off | | | | ranked No. 87. London-based bookmaker Betfair |
| to betting." | | | | received a highly unusual amount of money on |
| The disturbance is twofold. It has to do with the | | | | Arguello during the match and voided all bets. |
| integrity of sports, but it also has to do with the | | | | So far, the investigation led by the ATP (and assisted |
| integrity of sports gambling. Scandals like the | | | | by information from Betfair and other bookmakers) |
| Donaghy affair cast a pallor over both industries by | | | | has found 45 suspicious matches, including eight at |
| compromising their integrity. When a game is fixed, it | | | | Wimbledon. Five Italian players have been fined and |
| is no longer a sport - nor is it gambling. It's simply a | | | | suspended thus far. Davydenko has not been |
| crime. | | | | charged and maintains both his innocence and that of |
| In this case, Donaghy has pled guilty to two federal | | | | his counterparts. |
| charges of conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and | | | | The ATP investigation is in sharp contrast to the |
| transmitting betting information through interstate | | | | NBA's handling of the Donaghy situation. |
| commerce. Neither charge deals specifically with fixing | | | | Commissioner David Stern is under fire for portraying |
| games - Donaghy admitted only to selling "inside | | | | the disgraced referee as a rogue official who acted |
| information" on two NBA games he officiated during | | | | alone; Donaghy has claimed otherwise to federal |
| the 2006-07 season. But prosecutors say Donaghy | | | | investigators. This is a sport where referees are |
| also bet on games he worked, and Voulgaris is | | | | routinely criticized for showing favoritism, and where |
| among the many who are convinced those games | | | | teams appear to lose on purpose toward the end of |
| were fixed. | | | | the season in order to improve their chances in the |
| This is only the latest in a long, sad history of betting | | | | draft lottery. Any failure to provide transparency |
| scandals that litter the pages of sports history. The | | | | fuels conspiracy theorists who believe in widespread |
| following four prominent cases involved proven | | | | game-fixing engineered by Stern himself to maximize |
| manipulation of games and connections with criminal | | | | league profits. |
| elements: | | | | There is another contrast between the tennis and |
| 1919: Gangsters conspire with members of the | | | | basketball scandals that points directly at the heart of |
| Chicago White Sox to throw the World Series. Eight | | | | the matter. Betfair operates in a country where |
| members of the team are banned for life from Major | | | | sports gambling is legal, widespread and regulated. |
| League Baseball, including the famed "Shoeless" Joe | | | | Anti-gaming legislation in North America only serves |
| Jackson. | | | | to drive the industry further underground, and the |
| 1951: Basketball players from four New York-area | | | | NBA contributes to this with its ardent public stance |
| colleges are indicted in a point-shaving scandal. That | | | | against gambling. |
| year's NCAA champions, the Kentucky Wildcats, are | | | | This environment provides the dark corners where |
| suspended the following season for point shaving. In | | | | anything might happen. Unless the NBA opens up |
| all, 20 players and 14 gamblers are convicted. | | | | those corners to a full and fair investigation, its |
| 1981: Five Boston College basketball players are found | | | | credibility will only suffer, and sports fans and |
| guilty of point shaving during the 1978-79 season. | | | | gamblers alike will turn their attention elsewhere - just |
| Nine games are fixed; members of the Lucchese | | | | as they have for boxing. Surely Mr. Stern doesn't |
| crime family are involved in the scheme. | | | | want the NBA to suffer the same fate as the sport |
| 2005: German soccer referee Robert Hoyzer admits | | | | Grantland Rice once lionized to a rapt audience in the |
| to fixing several second-tier Bundesliga matches; he's | | | | millions. |