New Jersey suspends Ukrainian table tennis betting over match-fixing fears

Sportsbooks in New Jersey have been instructed to suspend betting on all Ukrainian table tennis events after being warned of a potential match-fixing ring.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement was informed by the Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Association earlier this week of match-fixing concerns in the eastern European state, according to ESPN.

As well as all table tennis matches in Ukraine, matches involving six specific players, regardless of geographic location, are now prohibited according to a notice handed out to New Jersey sportsbooks.

The notice read: “While there is not yet any evidence that any match fixing occurred in New Jersey, due the nature of the alert, the Division is suspending approval for wagering on all table tennis events in the Ukraine, including but not limited to the Setka Cup, WIN Cup, and TT Cup.”

The six players were named as Liliia Zaitseva, Ivan Gaysin, Karen Dzhanibekyan, Eduard Panichev, Anastasia Efimova and Gleb Zotov.

The Indiana Gaming Commission has since suspended betting on any table tennis event that is not sanctioned by the sport’s governing bodies – the International Table Tennis Federation and the European Table Tennis Union – in an attempt to mitigate any potential match-fixing dilemmas.

Table tennis was one of the niche sports to experience a flood of interest during the coronavirus-enforced sports shutdown.