Concerned Federer takes steps in IMG betting affair

Nov 11, 2010, 11:51 GMT

Paris - Roger Federer is not pleased that his gold-standard reputation as a sportsman may be harmed by revelations that the head of his management firm bet on the 2007 French Open final where the Swiss lost to Rafael Nadal.

As the most prolific earner in the sport - and called the best to ever play the game - the 29-year-old is trying to repair any damage to his reputation after a report in the New York Times which spelled out millions of dollars in sporting bets made by IMG boss Ted Forstmann.

The executive is being sued in an American court by a disgruntled plaintiff who said he placed the bets for the multimillionaire and reportedly alleged that Forstmann used information from Federer.

The squeaky-clean Federer has denied any involvement and will likely have his legal team and back-office Swiss moneymen working on alternative plans for representation if the IMG affair blows up any further.

The player who commends elite sponsorship deals with the likes of Rolex, Mercedes-Benz, Nike and various Swiss sponsors, surely will not stand by and to be further tainted by the gambling habit of Forstmann.

Forstmann told The Daily Beast website that while he spoke with Federer before the Roland Garros final, it was only as a friend.

Federer is taking steps in the matter.

'It's disappointing that my name gets thrown around for something that I have no control over,' the world number two said at the Paris Masters.

'Because it involves my name somewhere out there, I know it's a hundred percent not true. The last thing I would do is harm the sport and create a negative light on our sport.

'It's disappointing that someone's throwing my name around. I would never do such a thing.'

'It's a bad thing that people close to the game are betting on the sport, but you can't control what other people do. All I can do is make sure me and my team don't do anything that's not allowed.'

Federer said he had contacted Forstmann when the matter first surfaced during last month's Shanghai tournament.

'I reached out to him to know about the case, that's all I did. I gave a straight answer in Shanghai.

'And Ted Forstmann is not my agent, he's head of IMG. That's clear. He owns the company and I'm sure he's learned his lesson through that. But he gave me straight answers about what was going on, and that's OK for me.'

Players and their entourages are forbidden to bet on matches to prevent possible match-fixing, but betting by agents and management throws an entirely new light on the subject.

International anti-corruption authorities have so far remained silent on the matter.

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