Two Dutch tennis players are accused of match fixing by the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor.
Translation by Traci White
De Volkskrant reports that sources have said that the two Dutch players are Antal van der Duim, who comes from the Frisian town of Vinkega, and Boy Westerhof, who was born in Assen. Van Der Duim is currently ranked as the 889th best male tennis player in the world, and Westerhof is ranked 445th.
The Leeuwarder Courant writes that the two athletes have not been detained, but they will be questioned by the Belgian authorities. Thirteen other suspects have been taken into custody, and five of them remain behind bars. RTV Drenthe says that they are accused of corruption, money laundering, falsification of documents and participation in a criminal organisation.
Betting
Van der Duim and Westerhof came to the attention of the authorities following a match in August 2014. The bets being placed on the match seemed suspicious: an unusual number of gamblers were betting on Van der Duim to win, even though he was trailing behind Westerhof. The bets were called off when the stakes rose to 750,000 euros. The match in question has long been linked to match fixing. In 2016, the Tennis Integrity Unit was investigating the match.
RTV Drenthe reports that the match fixing may have been carried out in connection to a Belgian and Armenian betting syndicate. The Belgian authorities suspect that the identified tennis players have deliberately manipulated the outcomes of multiple matches.
Photo source: Wikipedia
