Reproduced from Tennis Circus with the kind permission of author Giacomo Marchetti.
Translated from Italian.
Daniel Koellerer makes some heavy statements about the ATP.
Many barbs have been launched by Austrian (perhaps best known for receiving a life ban from the ATP Tennis Circuit for match fixing) against the ATP, who are guilty in his opinion of expelling him without proper testing, covering the most important players and "sacrificing" the weakest.
The Austrian tennis player was banned for life from the circuit after it was said he rigged three matches. In this article, he talks about a variety of topics, from his expulsion, chance bets and the banning of Marin Cilic.
"First, Dani has accused the ATP of being disqualified without proof: "The tests cost me $180,000 and I did not win. The ATP has destroyed my life . My house, my wife and my child, everything is gone and I was depressed. In the case of doping you disqualified six fixed-term, yet condemned without proof for match fixing".
In addition, he also suggested that the ATP covers the most famous and important tennis players, in particular the "Fab Four", while sacrificing the weakest. "What is shocking is that it is said that the best four players are involved . I personally do not I believe it. With their bank accounts they would not even notice the difference from selling a game".
However, the ATP would never would block Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray . I do not think these players manipulate the system, but if they did it would be suicide for the ATP. The best players are protected. They are too important to be sacrificed."
I am an eyesore for the ATP. They have sacrificed me to show the other players what can happen. There are protected players and players whose ATP wants to get rid of."
Koellerer said that three times he was approached and suggested to fix a match in exchange for money, but defended himself by saying that he immediately refused:
"I was approached by an intermediary, once I was called into a hotel room, and once they spoke to me at dinner. For a game against Davydenko they offered me $50,000, same thing for a game with Tipsarevic. Once even $100,000 to lose against Massu. I immediately refused, I have nothing to do with this. I was pretty stupid on the tennis court, rackets destroyed, insults the referee. I was just undisciplined, but with the scams had nothing to do with it"
And on the investigation of the BBC, which is the famous case bets that rocked the sport, said:"There are 16 of the top 50, which means who loses a third of the way. I'm sure that one or more players out of the top 20 manipulate matches . If I can testify? No. This is totally a guess on my part. To solve the problem, the betting must be simply suppressed. But obviously it can not do, because some tournaments are sponsored by bookmakers. This is something dirty. This is a mafia. This is something corrupt. "
On Marin Cilic , disqualified for doping in 2013, he has expressed many doubts: "I do not want to do any names. But it is clear that even with him are not clear some things. It's just sad . It is a positive result and a year later he won the US Open."
Finally, Koellerer admitted no further interest in tennis, and desired only that his daughter could have seen him in a tournament:
"I will not return to the tour. But I have always wished that my little daughter can see me in a tournament. It has never been possible unfortunately. If this does not happen , I do not care what happens to this sport . I'm so sick of this damn court".
Translated from Italian.
Daniel Koellerer makes some heavy statements about the ATP.
Many barbs have been launched by Austrian (perhaps best known for receiving a life ban from the ATP Tennis Circuit for match fixing) against the ATP, who are guilty in his opinion of expelling him without proper testing, covering the most important players and "sacrificing" the weakest.
The Austrian tennis player was banned for life from the circuit after it was said he rigged three matches. In this article, he talks about a variety of topics, from his expulsion, chance bets and the banning of Marin Cilic.
"First, Dani has accused the ATP of being disqualified without proof: "The tests cost me $180,000 and I did not win. The ATP has destroyed my life . My house, my wife and my child, everything is gone and I was depressed. In the case of doping you disqualified six fixed-term, yet condemned without proof for match fixing".
In addition, he also suggested that the ATP covers the most famous and important tennis players, in particular the "Fab Four", while sacrificing the weakest. "What is shocking is that it is said that the best four players are involved . I personally do not I believe it. With their bank accounts they would not even notice the difference from selling a game".
However, the ATP would never would block Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray . I do not think these players manipulate the system, but if they did it would be suicide for the ATP. The best players are protected. They are too important to be sacrificed."
I am an eyesore for the ATP. They have sacrificed me to show the other players what can happen. There are protected players and players whose ATP wants to get rid of."
Koellerer said that three times he was approached and suggested to fix a match in exchange for money, but defended himself by saying that he immediately refused:
"I was approached by an intermediary, once I was called into a hotel room, and once they spoke to me at dinner. For a game against Davydenko they offered me $50,000, same thing for a game with Tipsarevic. Once even $100,000 to lose against Massu. I immediately refused, I have nothing to do with this. I was pretty stupid on the tennis court, rackets destroyed, insults the referee. I was just undisciplined, but with the scams had nothing to do with it"
And on the investigation of the BBC, which is the famous case bets that rocked the sport, said:"There are 16 of the top 50, which means who loses a third of the way. I'm sure that one or more players out of the top 20 manipulate matches . If I can testify? No. This is totally a guess on my part. To solve the problem, the betting must be simply suppressed. But obviously it can not do, because some tournaments are sponsored by bookmakers. This is something dirty. This is a mafia. This is something corrupt. "
On Marin Cilic , disqualified for doping in 2013, he has expressed many doubts: "I do not want to do any names. But it is clear that even with him are not clear some things. It's just sad . It is a positive result and a year later he won the US Open."
Finally, Koellerer admitted no further interest in tennis, and desired only that his daughter could have seen him in a tournament:
"I will not return to the tour. But I have always wished that my little daughter can see me in a tournament. It has never been possible unfortunately. If this does not happen , I do not care what happens to this sport . I'm so sick of this damn court".
