Federer Denies Involvement In IMG Betting Scandal

Paris, France (AHN) – Roger Federer is caught up in a gambling scandal involving a member of a sports company IMG that represents the tennis superstar.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion Federer, whose name is part of a lawsuit involving IMG chairman Ted Forstmann, asked the latter to provide a detailed explanation of why he is alleged to have used information from Federer to change his betting patterns, the New York Times reported.

Federer told the Times he contacted Forstmann after learning of a lawsuit against the IMG CEO, who is being sued in Los Angeles County Superior Court by Agate Printing Inc. for fraud, interference with contract and breach of contract.

“I reached out and told him I want to know everything about it, how this came about,” Federer, who is in Paris for this week’s BNP Paribas Masters event, told the Times. “And he’s been, you know, nice enough obviously to tell me from his side and has been very open in the press already. So that’s O.K.”

“He’s not my agent. Tony (Godsick) is my guy, but still, it’s a firm that does a lot in sports, so it’s just something that for me is important to know what is going on from their side, too,” the Swiss master added.

In the lawsuit, Agate accuses Forstmann of using alleged inside information from Federer to increase a wager on the 2007 men’s singles final at the French Open.

Agate’s executive Jim Agate claims to have acted as a conduit for Forstmann’s gambling.

Federer, who lost the 2007 French Open finale against arch-rival Rafael Nadal, has denied any involvement with gambling, including the alleged high-stakes betting involving Forstmann.

Forstmann for his part acknowledged betting on Federer and gambling on sports in general. He, however, denied Agate’s claims that he hiked bets on Federer after conferring with the player.

“I might have called Roger before the match in 2007,” Forstmann told the website The Daily Beast. “But Roger is a buddy of mine, and all I would be doing is wishing him luck,” the Times reported.

Players are barred from betting on Grand Slam matches, but there are no rules prohibiting agents or other members of a player’s entourage from betting on tennis.

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