Martina Navratilova

London: Nine-times Wimbledon singles champion Martina Navratilova said on Sunday that players caught in match fixing scams should be banned from the sport for life.

Responding to British media reports that the grasscourt tournament is at the centre of a huge betting scandal, the American said the key to stamping out corruption was for players to have nothing to do with anyone asking them to fix matches.

“The only way to really deal with it would be to make extremely severe penalties,” she told a television channel. “To me, any player who would lose a match on purpose should be banned for life.

“Once you do one match, then they’ve got you,” Navratilova added. “The key is to walk away the first time and just not talk to them and not get sucked into it.”

Navratilova, winner of 59 Grand Slam titles, said she was concerned that middle-ranking players were more vulnerable to being hooked in by corrupt betting syndicates.

“The top players are not going to lose matches on purpose, because they can win the whole thing, but it’s the middle rank, apparently,” she said.

Corruption has been high on the ATP’s agenda following an investigation last year prompted by irregular betting patterns over a match between world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland.

Both players deny any involvement but several players have said they have been approached to lose, or affect the outcome of matches.

Five Italian players have received bans for betting on tennis matches since the investigation began. (REUTERS)