Lopez strongly denies match-fixing allegations

Feliciano Lopez says he will do all in his power to defend himself and stated he has "always believed in the values of fair play"..

Published : Jun 20, 2019 12:21 IST

Feliciano Lopez has strongly denied "false accusations" made in reports of an alleged match-fixing scandal at Wimbledon and says he has never been under investigation.

Lopez and Marc Lopez were named in the Spanish media as being under suspicion over bets that were claimed to have been made on a doubles match they lost at the All England Club two years ago.

The Spaniard has firmly denied any wrongdoing as he prepares to play doubles with the returning Andy Murray at the Queen's Club Championships.

Lopez said in a statement he read out at a press conference at Queen's on Wednesday: "‘Following reports in media that mentioned my name and my partner, Marc Lopez, I feel it is still important to come to you and absolutely deny any link with events described in relation to the allegations of match fixing.

 

"Marc and I had immediately contacted the TIU [Tennis Integrity Unit] to fully cooperate, and they confirmed that there had been no investigation about that match at Wimbledon 2017.

"We have full faith in the TIU and the role they play protecting our sport. ‘I have always believed in the values of fair play.

"It has been the case during my long career and I stand for the integrity of the game, which is so important. I am now focused on giving my best, as always, and play with 100 per cent focus at Queen’s."

Lopez added: "A long time ago, I think it was British tabloid or someone, they came out with a story about the match of [Jarkko] Nieminen and me.

"That was probably 15 or 16 years ago. I saw the article. I went to my lawyers. They had to publish another article saying that I was not involved in any match fixing at that time.

"That was a match that I retired after losing the first set in Long Island. That was probably 15 or 16 years ago. Long time, long time ago. It's the same thing.

"These gamblers, they know, they have information that you maybe are not 100 per cent or that you have an issue, an injury, whatever, and they put a lot of money on your name. That's an issue that we have to solve."

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