The briefing took place in a conference room at the federal prosecutor’s office. A strange tip had arrived from Belgium’s gambling commission.
Officials had noticed irregular wagers on obscure tennis matches played around the world. The bets were made in small towns in the Flemish countryside. The gamblers appeared to be acting on inside information; they consistently won even when they bet against steep odds.
At the time, the finding seemed mundane. But it would later help unravel the largest match-fixing scandal in the history of tennis — the world’s most manipulated sport, according to investigators and betting regulators.
Nicolas Borremans, a 45-year-old police investigator based in the Flanders region of Belgium, looked around the conference room. He could tell that none of his colleagues wanted the case. Sports-related investigations were often dismissed as insignificant. This one — revolving around a few small wagers — was a particularly tough sell. But Borremans believed that the links between sports gambling and organized crime were strengthening in Belgium. And there was something intriguing about this set of facts
Officials had noticed irregular wagers on obscure tennis matches played around the world. The bets were made in small towns in the Flemish countryside. The gamblers appeared to be acting on inside information; they consistently won even when they bet against steep odds.
At the time, the finding seemed mundane. But it would later help unravel the largest match-fixing scandal in the history of tennis — the world’s most manipulated sport, according to investigators and betting regulators.
Nicolas Borremans, a 45-year-old police investigator based in the Flanders region of Belgium, looked around the conference room. He could tell that none of his colleagues wanted the case. Sports-related investigations were often dismissed as insignificant. This one — revolving around a few small wagers — was a particularly tough sell. But Borremans believed that the links between sports gambling and organized crime were strengthening in Belgium. And there was something intriguing about this set of facts
