Roger Federer Asked IMG Owner Forstmann about Bets

Roger Federer said he's asked IMG owner Ted Forstmann about his admission he bet thousands of dollars on Federer to win the 2007 French Open. Federer reiterated he had no knowledge of Forstmann's gambling on tennis.

"I would never do such a thing," Federer told Christopher Clarey in a published report in the New York Times. "I reached out and told him I want to know everything about it, how this came about.

"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."

Forstmann personally courted Federer to join the sports management company. A lawsuit filed by Agate Printing alleges Federer personally provided Forstmann with inside information that prompted the IMG owner to quadruple bets on Federer's matches, according to a TMZ report. 

Forstmann's attorney is countering that the lawsuit follows an extortion attempt by Agate Printing owner Jim Agate, who claims Forstmann bet $5,000 on Federer to win the 2006 French Open final.

Federer lost to Rafael Nadal, who is also an IMG client. Agate's suit contends Forstmann placed bets of $22,000 and $11,000 on Federer to beat Nadal in the 2007 French Open final. Nadal scored a four-set win over Federer in that final.

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

Federer flatly refuted any involvement in Forstmann's gambling. Federer, who declined to disclose specifics of his conversation with Forstmann, has said: "I'm pretty relaxed about this because I'm for complete honesty for the sport, leave the game better off than when I arrived to the sport, even though it was already a great platform I had. The last thing I would do is harm the sport and create a negative light on our sport."

Asked by the Times what he's learned from the experience, Federer replied: "That names get thrown around, that you can’t help sometimes. That’s just the way it is. So from that side, for me it was crazy news to hear that, but obviously, it’s not a good thing when IMG or Ted Forstmann is involved in it.”

The suit also alleges Forstmann bet against another IMG client, Tiger Woods. Agate filed the suit, claiming Forstmann left the company liable for thousands of dollars in tax liabilities over the gambling losses.

Forstmann, an avid recreational player who hosted the Huggy Bear Invitational Tournament on Long Island for years, has suggested Agate has attempted to extort him.

"We intend to hand over all of the relevant information to the appropriate criminal authorities and to ask them to prosecute this individual [Agate] to the fullest extent of the law," Forstmann said in an internal IMG memo, published by TMZ.

IMG represents several of tennis' top stars including Federer, Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams. IMG also runs the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

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