Marco Trungelliti has opened up about the pain he felt after being ostracized for reporting match-fixing and its prevalence in the sport while recalling how Novak Djokovic also came forward with claims about the cheating method
The difficulties began for the Argentinian player after he reported match-fixing attempts in 2018, which led to three of his compatriots - Federico Coria, Patricio Heras, and Nicolas Kicker - to be banned from the sport.
However, instead of receiving support and praise from the tennis community for helping to maintain fair play, Trungelliti recalled how many ostracized him, leading to dangerous consequences as his family received threats.
Trungelliti says he was not protected by governing bodies
In a recent interview with La Nacion, the 33-year-old opened up on the pain he felt during this time.
"It hurt me a lot. It was a deep pain because of who I was. What I said was fulfilled and everything remained the same," he said.
Trungelliti added that other players had come forward, using the example of World No. 1 Djokovic, who revealed in 2016 that he was offered $200,000 to lose in the first round of a tournament, which he declined before calling match-fixing "an act of un-sportsmanship and a crime in sport."
"Djokovic said he had been offered
match fixing.
Sergiy Stakhovsky, who had called me a snitch, later came out to say that he was also offered. It's like everything fell into place, but it broke me, basically, because I didn't expect it," Trungelliti added.
Trungelliti also called out tennis governing bodies such as the
ATP and
ITF, accusing them of failing to protect players who come forward to report match-fixing.
"That, in addition to how the ATP, the TIU, the Association and the ITF acted, was a tremendous combo, one stab after the other. All of these organizations fell far short of what is needed for things to improve," he said.
Trungelliti also revealed in 2019 that he was offered match-fixing and opened up on this in his interview with La Nacion.
"I remember that confession with mixed feelings. Never with regret because I did it convinced. Besides, there was injustice, and things were being said [about me] that weren't true.
"The associations [...] I thought they were aware of the reality that tennis was facing... It was tough as time went on, and the bullying, the pointing fingers, a lot of voices I didn't like started. And that's when I began to realize the mess I had gotten myself into," he explained.
