Australia’s John Millman has questioned a multimillion-dollar plan floated by Novak Djokovic to help struggling tennis players during the COVID-19 shutdown, asking why it had not been done before.
Novak Djokovic on Saturday said that the “Big Three” — himself, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal — were organizing aid for lower-ranked players who have no income while the sport is suspended because of the pandemic.
“The majority of the players who are ranked between 200, 250 in the world, and the 700th or 1,000th do not have federation support, do not have sponsors. They are completely independent and left alone,” Djokovic said in an Instagram chat with friend and rival Stan Wawrinka. “Guys who are ranked between 200-250, especially to 700 ... are thinking of leaving tennis right now.”
World No. 43 Millman said that lower-ranked players should have been paid better in the past.
“If the concern is to help players ranked 250-700 in the world why has it taken a global pandemic to realise this?” Millman wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Surely over the many years of top end heavy prizemoney increases we maybe should have maybe distributed the spread a little more...”
Brisbane-based Millman, Australia’s No. 3, said that the “unfairness of the lower tours” meant he had always been “uncomfortable” with the top-end heavy sport.
“[I’ve] often referenced the struggle … because I’ve properly lived through the lower levels,” he wrote.
Djokovic said that the players, the ATP and the four Grand Slams “would all get together and will contribute to a player relief fund that ATP will distribute.”
He estimated that between US$3 million and US$4.5 million could be distributed through the scheme.
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB