PTI

London, Jun 24: The revelations of match-fixing in Wimbledon may have stunned the tennis fraternity but the All England Club has sought to play down the matter, saying there was no proof to substantiate such findings and the matches in question were still under review.

In a startling report by two former Scotland Yard officers, it was suggested that eight Wimbledon matches may have been fixed since 2002 and at least four of them were from last year's championship.

The revelations have forced the AELTC to impose stricter locker-room rules to prevent betting syndicates from gaining access to players this year.

AELTC Chief Executive Ian Ritchie said these measures include forbidding anyone other than players and their coaches to enter the locker room besides a betting ban on players and their representatives.

However, Ritchie insisted that match-fixing, though a potential threat, was not a major issue for the championship this year.

"While we are taking it seriously as a potential threat, we currently don't believe it is a serious one for this year's Wimbledon," he was quoted as saying by 'The Telegraph'.

"If anybody is proved to be involved in this, then the penalties, I am sure, will be severe, but nobody has been proved to be involved," he added.