Roger Federer backs bans for players who bet on matches!
World number one Roger Federer said on Saturday he supported bans for tennis players found guilty of betting on matches.
"When we talk about the gambling issue obviously that is one thing we are going to get to the core of," Federer told reporters on the eve of the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.
"We are going to solve the issue. Honestly to bet on tennis as a tennis player I just don't think that's right. You should be fined or banned.
"How long? That's up to other people to decide but I think we should be very hard on these people."
Italy's Alessio Di Mauro on Saturday became the first tennis professional to be caught in a betting crackdown. He was banned for nine months for betting on other players' matches.
Tennis is going through troubled times. A match in August involving world number four Nikolay Davydenko was voided by British online betting exchange Betfair because of unusual betting patterns.
DAVYDENKO UNHAPPY
Several players have since acknowledged they had been offered money to throw matches and had turned it down.
"At the very top of the game we don't have problems," said Federer. "I think it's more low-ranked players maybe who do have the temptation."
The Swiss added: "I've never been approached, I've never been on a Web site. You can bet on other stuff -- there's enough other things you can do."
Davydenko, who was fined $2,000 last month for not trying hard enough during a match in St Petersburg, was still clearly unhappy on Saturday about being implicated in the betting controversy.
"It has been difficult," shrugged the Russian after investigators interviewed his wife and brother over allegations that the player had been involved in match-fixing.
"I asked my wife what questions she was asked and it just made me laugh," he added.
Federer backs bans for players who bet on matches - Tennis - Yahoo! Sports