As sports gambling becomes more normalized and widespread, so do gambling-related crimes and harassment. Unfortunately, tennis star Panna Udvardy was the target of a disturbing blackmail threat this week.
Udvardy, who entered this week’s Megasaray Hotels Open in Turkey as the No. 95 women’s tennis player in the world, revealed in a post on Instagram this week that she was the victim of a “disturbing” blackmail threat. In messages
In her post, Udvardy shared what she described as “very disturbing messages” that she received on WhatsApp from an unknown number on her personal cell phone. The messages threatened violence against the Hungarian tennis star unless she lost her match
“The person told me that if I didn’t lose my match today, they would harm members of my family. They said they knew where my family lives, what cars they drive and that they had their phone numbers. They even sent photos of my family members and a picture of a gun,” Udvardy wrote in a post on Instagram.
The tennis star shared a screenshot of the messages she received on WhatsApp.
“Tomorrow you have to lose against Anhelina, or we’ll go after Edit and Vilja. We have two groups near Hungary ready for war if necessary, and we won’t hesitate to send them to your mother’s house to kidnap her until she returns the money we would lose because of your disobedience,” the message read.
“We know everything about your family and you, we know where your mother and grandmother live, we know where you and your siblings live. We have your locations, we have your phone numbers, and we know what cars you drive,” the message continued. “Think about it carefully tonight and think carefully about every point you 12 play in the match. It’s your decision, either you lose or it’s hell.”
“Lose tomorrow, or I promise you we’l send our best soldiers after your family. We don’t care about anything else,” the threatening message concluded.
Udvardy said that she immediately contacted the WTA supervisor and informed her parents, who then contacted the consulate.
“The consulate responded very quickly and sent three police officers to my match, which I’m extremely grateful for. Police also went to my parents and grandmother’s homes, and after the match I filed an official police report here in Turkey,” Udvardy wrote.
Udvardy said that she was told other players had receieved similar threats have recently and that it’s believed that personal information may have leaked from the WTA database.
The tennis star expressed gratitude for those who reached out to support her as well as the consulate for reacting quickly, but she offered a sharp rebuke for this sort of behavior.
“I want to say something clearly: this is not normal,” she wrote. “Even as athletes or public figures, it’s not acceptable to receive threats against our families, especially not on our private phone numbers and alongside disturbing images. We should not normalize abuse like this in sport.
“I hope the WTA continues investigating this situation seriously and takes stronger steps to protect players personal data and safety and to inform players immediately if there is a breach in their system,” she added.
“No player should have to deal with something like this,” she concluded.
Ultimately, Udvardy lost the match 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina.
About Dave Kelsey
Bets on sports stuff.