The ATP has raised the profile of its anti-corruption campaign after suspending two players for betting on matches – just days after they had won tournaments. Doubles specialists Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak were found guilty of betting on matches after an investigation found they had breached the association’s rules.

The four governing bodies that supervise international tennis have announced that they plan to create an independent integrity panel to deal with gambling and other issues in the sport. The announcement came towards the end of a Wimbledon Championships that saw unprecedented amounts of money wagered.

The ATP, the governing body of men’s tennis, is facing a possible backlash over its strong anti-corruption efforts during the past year. The exoneration of tennis star Nikolay Davydenko in a prolonged investigation of possible match-fixing last week coincided with a threat by four Italian players suspended in 2008 to take action against the ATP and online betting company Interwetten.com for violation of their privacy.

As the Wimbledon tournament gets underway today, following weekend reports in the British press of suspected past match-fixing at the event, tennis authorities are weighing a list of more than a dozen specific recommendations by experts to combat the dangers of possible betting-related corruption in the sport.

Britain’s biggest bookmaker has promised to fight legal action begun by the French tennis authorities in a bid to stop internet betting companies taking wagers on this year’s French Open. Should the case proceed it would open up the possibility of further action by a range of sports rights holders.

The value of agreements between bookmakers and sporting authorities to prevent match fixing have been thrown into doubt after a series of revelations following the Davydenko tennis scandal.

Professional tennis bodies must implement an anti-corruption programme to combat threats to the integrity of the game, an independent review recommended yesterday.The report also proposed that tennis, together with other sports, considers creating a ‘right to bet’ to be sold to bookmakers.

A match-fixing expert who helped spark the investigation into Europe’s biggest football betting scandal has called for the harshest possible penalties for anyone convicted of match-rigging – but warned that major leagues across the continent could still be at risk.

UK Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe has urged bookmakers to co-operate fully with a new ATP rule giving professional tennis players 48 hours to tell the authorities if they are approached about throwing matches.

Five Italian tennis players suspended last year for gambling on matches are suing the Malta-based online sports betting operator Interwetten in a US federal court, alleging that the company ‘maliciously’ supplied details of the players’ wagering histories to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in order to broker future sponsorship arrangements with the tournament organiser.