Nikolay is "Clean"

Nikolay Davydenko's name has been cleared by the ATP Tour.  The Russian star has had a negative asterix next to his name throughout the past few months due to speculation that he "throws" matches for money and is involved with fraud.  It's refreshing to know that Nikolay's name is clean and we can finally just enjoy his top quality tennis without questioning his integrity...onward and upward!

12 September 2008

ATP Statement Regarding The Sopot Match Investigation

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, U.S.A. – A fundamental role of the ATP is to ensure that men’s professional tennis continues to be free of corruption.  For this reason, the ATP instigated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the match in Sopot between Mr. Vassallo Arguello and Mr. Davydenko on 2^nd August 2007.  ATP can confirm today that it has concluded its investigation and found no evidence of a violation of its rules by either Mr. Arguello or Mr. Davydenko or anyone else associated with the match.

During its investigation, the ATP worked with a number of leading external integrity experts. As well as interviewing a number of individuals involved in the match and reviewing betting account details of those who wagered on the match, the investigating team also requested and reviewed records from the players and from individuals closely associated with them.

These included telephone records from individuals including Mr Vassallo Arguello and Mr Davydenko as well as members of both players’ support personnel. Certain individuals declined the ATP requests and appealed them to the independent Hearing Officer. After lengthy legal proceedings, the independent Hearing Officer directed those individuals to turn over the requested records to ATP.  A number of records were received and examined, however due to the length of the legal proceedings some of the records were confirmed as having been destroyed by the relevant telephone providers in line with local data protection laws.

This confirmation means that the ATP has now exhausted all avenues of enquiry open to it and the investigation is now concluded.

The in-depth investigation of the circumstances surrounding the Sopot match, together with the findings of the recent, independent tennis integrity review by Jeff Rees and Ben Gunn, will play a large and important role in informing and advancing the imminent creation of the tennis wide Integrity Unit and its accompanying regulatory framework which will now have responsibility for running the new global Tennis Anti-Corruption Program on behalf of the ATP, WTA, ITF and Grand Slam Committee tournaments.

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