Djokovic ‘said he had been offered match fixing’ as tennis star called ‘snitch’

Marco Trungelliti has claimed that Novak Djokovic has been offered the chance to fix his matches in the past. The Argentine tennis player made waves when he became a whistleblower exposing match-fixing but instead of being praised, he said he was labelled a “snitch”. More than four years on, Trungelliti now has the support of Djokovic and the Professional Tennis Players Association as the world No 1 discussed his own experiences with the 33-year-old.

Trungelliti shocked the tennis world in February 2019 when he exposed the truths of match-fixing in tennis during an interview with La Nacion, revealing that he had turned down a bribe from a betting group and reported them to the Tennis Integrity Unit. The TIU then asked him to testify against three of his compatriots who were being investigated for match-fixing – Federico Coria, Nicolas Kicker and Patricio Heras – and they were later suspended.

But the current world No 236 found himself ostracised for trying to keep the sport clean, revealing that he had been called a “snitch”. Four years later, Trungelliti is now competing in Argentina for the first time since opening up on the issue of match-fixing in tennis and he praised Djokovic for trying to put an end to the issue.

In a new interview with La Nacion, the former world No 112 said: “Djokovic said he had been offered match-fixing. Sergiy Stakhovsky, who had called me a snitch, later came out to say that he was also offered.”

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It came as validation for Trungelliti, who said it “hurt” to be branded a snitch for trying to maintain the integrity of the sport. “It’s like everything fell into place, but it broke me, basically, because I didn’t expect it,” he added.

He also shared his gratitude for the Professional Tennis Players Association – the group co-founded by Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil – and said he got to speak with the world No 1 at the recent US Open. The Argentine explained that Djokovic and the PTPA were in agreement with his own thoughts on match-fixing.

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He continued: “I believe that among what the PTPA is arguing and the things that Djokovic says basically confirm what I have been saying for four years. The system works poorly and there are parties that are fixed and that will continue to be fixed until things change.”

Djokovic and Pospisil created the PTPA in 2020, having both previously served on the ATP Player Council. The PTPA website says the group is “dedicated to uniting and mobilising tennis players in order to create transparency and equity throughout professional tennis”.

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