nisers of the Australian Open, which will be staged in January, have confirmed that the logo of bookmaker William Hill will not feature on or around the venue’s tennis courts.

Tennis Australia said that it will not be offering “on-court signage” to William Hill, amid controversy surrounding gambling advertising in Australia and a global concern about match-fixing in tennis.

ESSA reports frequently cite tennis as the sport with the most flagged unusual betting activities, and 2016 investigations from numerous media outlets have also made allegations of rife match fixing at the highest levels of the sport.

It can be assumed that Tennis Australia who previous had a longstanding and established partnership agreement with William Hill, has made the decision in an effort to put some distance between the sport and gambling.

William Hill was the official betting partner of the Australian Open in 2016, in a deal rumoured to be in the AU$5m range. The deal was criticised by anti-gambling campaigners when it was announced, for deepening the ties between sport and gambling.