The Tournament

---

Karim Hossam was one of The Best young Tennis players in The World . He saw you play in the biggest tournaments with The Top players of The Game . Instead, he was discovered in the Wake of one of the biggest Match -fixing rings, in a sport where corruption is rampant. The BBC's Simon Cox and Paul Grant , the confidential documents tell the story of his fall.

It was unraveling in a modest hotel room in Tunisia in June 2017, that Karim Hossam Tennis -started career. Compared to the 24-year-old, two former British police detectives sat. You were the investigator for the Tennis Integrity Unit, which probes corruption in The Game , and you suspected Karim had the determination. In a series of interviews over six months, he showed how four years earlier he had become a part of one of the biggest Match -fixing rings in Tennis .

The International Tennis Bund futures tournament in Sharm el-Sheikh is a distant cousin of The Glamour , money and crowds of Wimbledon or the French Open. Played on a small Tennis club next to a shopping centre, there is a smattering of spectators and The Prize money for The Tournament is the $15,000 (£11,500) - about a quarter of the total by a first-round loser at Wimbledon.

Karim Hossam had already won The Tournament four times, When he came to compete, it again in 2013. Only 20, the young Egyptian player was the great hope for the North African Tennis .

Find out moreAs one of The Best junior players in The World , hovering on The Edge of The Top 10, he had tournaments began to play in the big ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) with The Stars of the sport. Had he played the Australian Open and the French Open, but The International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Sharm, she was one of the many in The World , where thousands of lower ranked players try to scrape a living.

Karim Hossam was preparing for a game, if a player he knew well to expect. "Do you want to lose The Match and $1,000(£770)?", he asked. The same player had asked Hossam months previously contacted, at the Qatar Open , whether he wanted to lose The First set for $1,000. On this occasion, he was in front of one of The Best players in The World , Richard Gasquet - then ranked ninth in The World , with around 300 places on Hossam and he replied: "I love The Game , Gasquet didn't, I'm here to sell a game. "

Richard Gasquet play Hossam at the Qatar Open , But in Sharm el-Sheikh, it was different. It really didn't matter whether he won or lost, and after I decided it's about Hossam, before you go with him. He told investigators, "I just wanted to try it, because I never tried... I thought this guy was not actually lying to me... I knew that there were bets. "The Player has not lied, however, and after The Match , Hossam loses went with him to a local Western Union branch to his money, to come.

The players who would have done behind this, much More Than $1,000, and would also have bets on other games, and often by a number of bets on a game. "With this insider knowledge of the people involved in Match -fixing in a specific sport, especially Tennis ... you can really make some pretty good money," Fred Herr, Director for anti-corruption in The International centre for Sport security in Qatar. "We are talking of numbers to over half a million Euro. "

What was Karim Hossam are not aware of the fact that he had sold his career for $1,000. Is found guilty of a single offence, by the Tennis authorities is punishable by a life-long ban from The Game .

Hossam could not prevent, that it had to himself, so he told his father helped to Finance his career. He told investigators that his father was really mad and he was like, "You're ruining your life'".

After This first action, Hossam said he had tried to avoid for a while to do it again. But he also thought that, if he had more money, it would be easier to advance his career. "I wanted to play and big tournaments, you know, as I was in the USA for the warehouse or whatever and I needed money," he said.

Karim Hossam will play at the Air Berlin International Junior Championships In July 2010, he continued to lose money, and soon he was even as a middle-man, the middle man between The Player and The Player . It is sometimes involved losing a game, or on other occasions a single sentence. It was what the players wanted and what you have The Best chances.

He spent the next four years to help fix dozens of matches in Egypt, Tunisia and Nigeria, usually earn $200 for a $1,000 fix. A cache of confidential documents seen by the BBC shows the young players the Updates on Facebook-messages with dozens of North-African players arranged. In may 2016, he contacts a player an offer: "Bro. You lose The First set to win The Match . You get 2,500. "The numbers were always in dollars.

, If The Other player agrees to this, Hossam ensures that he understands his instructions: "So, you lose The First set to win The Match . You do understand?" The Player is not responding, "score is important. I need to lose The First set?"

He calms Hossam: "the most important is, delete it, you win The Set then also. "The Player says Hossam, "I hope it is OK because I need The Money . "You carry on messaging all afternoon, but it's not by a hook, and the Update.

on other occasions, it runs smoothly. In August 2016, news that another player is in the Early Hours of The Morning : "A sentence for 3,000. "Intrigued by the offer, The Player responds, "to lose How much?" and he said, "Lose for 3,000 to My Friend . "In case The Player loses.

The documents seen by the BBC, bringing More Than 20 players, most of them from North Africa , is either direct fixing or, in the absence of, The Authorities say, if asked to do so. All the players can be approached and asked to fix, to report a Match , and the failure to do this is to be a criminal offence, which can lead to a longer ban.

In June 2017 the Tennis anti-corruption authorities eventually Caught Up with him.

In his first interview with investigators, he told them to fix how he was drawn.

"I just couldn't shows to play, and how my father paid for me, and to my father, for my brother, and at that time I was not getting any income," he says, the transcript.

After The Interview , he ends the news of his Younger Brother , Youssef, who is also a professional Tennis player.

"did you get me in my room, bro," he writes. "And I was stupid, I didn't delete some Things . "

If the photo was taken in September 2017, 19-year-old Youssef Hossam - space 334 in The World - was in search of a sponsor to support his career and help him recognize his talent Hossam and his brother says he is full of hope, of escape any harsh sanctions due to the cooperation with The Authorities . "I told them that I want to work with you. Would be [expletive] great, if that is possible. I travel and get money, to catch all of the fixers. "

This was not how it turned out. Days after he was questioned by the Tennis Integrity Unit, Karim Hossam provisionally banned from playing Tennis . On the same day, he messaged a player, the ban told him, but she swore, "I'll bet even more now. "

with time on his last interview, in January 2018, Karim Hossam says that he has been reduced to coaching children. The investigator questions whether or not he has evidence against The Player , the damaged as The First him.

"We feel very strongly that if he's done that he's probably done it to other people, and he is probably still doing it," says one of The Investigators says to him. "So, he's someone, I'm sure you would agree, you would want to Get Out of Tennis , because he is a danger, because he's the groom of the young players... If it wasn't for him, you never can be where you are today. "

Karim had hoped it would, some of the advantages for him in cooperation with the Tennis Integrity Unit and seems disappointed that he got nothing out of it.

"I have a lot of information. I didn't really lie, about something that I was open," he tells them.

", But received a lifetime ban in Tennis , I mean, I've been playing Tennis since the age of 17, I was only forced to do this under certain circumstances... So, pretty much, as I can't see how the benefits from my side... I don't know the evidence, to be honest... I have no more chats. "

In July 2018. But to show the confidential files, which has seen the BBC, he continued to try to corrupt the sport.

In August 2018, he has a long conversation with a player, for which he offers $3,500 loses a set by a certain number of points. In the end, word is The Game gets out is fixed, and the players from the back. Karim Hossam suspected, one of the players has spoken. "My Friend , we have babies, and men are not the," he tells him.

The BBC contacted, Karim Hossam, to ask him about these messages and his contact with other players, but he has not responded.

join The Conversation - you can also find us on and.

tennis match fixing, egypt

Source of news: bbc.com