The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) is once again being accused of not acting effectively enough against indications of match-fixing in tennis.
A second report into the issue by the BBC and two other publications has obtained additional details about a match-fixing investigation by Italian authorities. It says more than 24 tennis players were implicated, but the TIU was only focused on the Italian players.
The chief prosecutor of Cremona, Italy, Robert Di Martino, said, "The international events seem more problematic than those situations in which, after all, only a few Italian players were involved."
There were enough incidents involving the same tennis players that "it cannot be a coincidence," he added.
The BBC did not reveal the names of the international tennis players, but said some were among the 16 players it had originally reported as being repeatedly referred to authorities for potential match-fixing.
Two players who have been named previously are Italians Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace, against whom prosecutors are planning to lay charges in a local court. The two had already been banned by the Italian tennis federation, but the suspensions were lifted on appeal.
Those bans came when an Italian newspaper had published leaked transcripts of police of conversations between the players and a gambler who was investigated and arrested for fixing soccer matches, and between two gamblers saying had agreed to fix the final of Casablanca.
According to the BBC, the gambler had told police that he had paid both players to fix matches.
Records of conversations said Starace was paid 50,000 Euros to win the first set before going down against Daniel Brands in 2009, and double that if he won the first set and then went down against in 2011. The records also show the gamblers saying that he had taken 300,000 Euros from someone else to fix the 2011 Casablanca final.
The TUI was quoted by the BBC as saying it was investigating the two Italian players, and providing a statement that it 'acts on all' records of suspect activity received.
The revelations follow similar allegations made during the Australian Open, as well as a story questioning the TIU's delay in following up suspicious betting during a mixed doubles match at the tournament.
UPDATE
Both Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace have denied any involvement in match-fixing.
The TUI issued a statement in response, saying, "The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), supported by the governing bodies of tennis, strongly refutes any suggestion made by the public prosecutor in Cremona, Italy, that evidence of match-fixing in tennis has been ignored by the TIU.
“The TIU had been endeavouring to obtain the evidence required to substantiate allegations made against Italian players Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace from the prosecutor’s office since October 2014. The TIU had to engage legal counsel in Italy to obtain the information contained in Mr Di Martino’s investigation and is now listed as an injured party in the ongoing criminal proceedings."
It added that everything obtained was “being fully and thoroughly assessed, verified and, where appropriate, investigated" and the sport "welcomes all and any new evidence that can assist the TIU in its work."
The governing bodies of tennis had announced an independent review following the original match-fixing allegations.