Marco Trungelliti has the support of the Tennis Integrity Unit after months of silence that left the Argentine prone to speculation from peers and found him ostracized by many fellow tennis players.
Trungelliti became a whistle blower and helped expose match-fixers after he was first approached by unsavory characters in 2015. He reported the incident and later appeared as a witness and helped the Tennis Integrity Unit ensnare three Argentinian players in 2017.
But Trungelliti's heroics happened in silence, the public never realizing his role as the confidential cases were tried. And this left him vulnerable.
Trungelliti felt he was left hanging in the wind by the Tennis Integrity Unit, which didn’t speak publicly of the case even after it handed down sanctions to Nicolas Kicker, Patricio Heras and Federico Coria.
“They just dropped me in the middle of the sea,” he told the ATP two weeks ago. He said that players that used to talk to him suddenly went silent and he was experiencing anxiety that left him afraid to play on Argentean soil.
On Tuesday the TIU came to Trungelliti’s defense, releasing a statement to make note of his bravery and clear his name.
“TIU understand that Mr Trungelliti has subsequently been subject to strong personal criticism and that his motives for co-operating with the TIU have been questioned,” the memo read, adding: “At all times, Mr Trungelliti has acted with the highest level of integrity and with the best interests of the sport in mind. His courageous and principled stand against those who seek to corrupt is to be admired and commended.”
The full statement from the TIU can be found below: