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Cyberbullying: Tennis players targeted by sports bettors
In 2023, nearly 2 billion euros were generated by sports betting in France for tennis alone. The world of gambling is often a source of addictions and irrational behavior, which pushes some sports bettors to cyberharass players.
(France 2)
In 2023, nearly 2 billion euros were generated by sports betting in France for tennis alone. The world of gambling is often a source of addictions and irrational behavior, which pushes some sports bettors to cyberharass players.
Alice Tubello, the fifteenth ranked French tennis player, was cyberbullied after losing in the quarter-finals of a secondary tournament in Peru. She received more than 300 messages of insults and threats, mostly from frustrated online gamblers. One of them impersonated her on Facebook, making people believe that her father was a pedophile.
The world’s best female and male players are not spared. Gamblers do not hesitate to infiltrate the public to benefit from an advantage. “By the time the referee records a point, there is a latency time of around twenty seconds which allows you to make an immediate bet.”explains Yann Maître, director of the Open 17 tournament in St-Palais-sur-Mer. Some tournaments prohibit betting, but underground sites allow you to bet on all matches.
Organised criminal networks are behind some of them, as police from the Central Racing and Gaming Service have found. Some try to fix matches by buying players at the bottom of the rankings who are struggling to make a living. Last year, 2 billion euros were bet on tennis matches in France.