Roger Federer

We all should know by now never to underestimate the self-destructive stupidity of an athlete. Any athlete, any sport can take rock-solid heroism and picture-perfect idolatry and just flush it away. Tiger Woods? Brett Favre?

But I’m choosing not to believe a lawsuit that accuses Roger Federer of feeding inside information about his game to his agent’s boss at IMG, who then used it to gamble illegally.

At this point, it’s about faith. I have it in Federer, who seems impeccable, never having done anything but help the sport with class.

Tennis and IMG, though, are a different story, having boxed themselves into a serious credibility issue. It is too early to know whether the guy filing the lawsuit is legit or a crackpot, but know this:

If the accusations are true, it is the fall of professional tennis. Closest thing I can think of would be Peyton Manning feeding info about an injury to Roger Goodell, who then goes to his bookie and bets against the Colts in the Super Bowl.

This could be huge. But for some reason, it doesn’t seem to be getting much attention.

The problem is that IMG is not just an agency representing Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams. It also, basically, owns tennis. It wants to run tennis.

Caroline Wozniacki is the WTA’s new No. 1 player, but she’s never even won a major. Few would argue she’s better than Serena Williams, but that’s not the only reason the rankings system is flawed.
— Read Column The famed Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida? It’s now the IMG Bollettieri … The Tennis Channel’s website lists investors. IMG is one.

IMG owns several top tennis tournaments, too. Its website says it sells rights and sponsorships to Wimbledon and the Australian Open. And guess who called me when Wimbledon decided to try to charge websites for press passes?

IMG.

It has control over tournaments, academies, media. So who is going to police IMG?

It’s possible that this is more unfair to IMG than to anyone else. Checks and balances would help the accused, too.

The suit was filed in L.A. County Superior Court. Agate Printing, Inc. claims it served as a gambling go-between for IMG owner Theodore Forstmann, who got info from Federer. Agate claims it was left holding huge tax liabilities over Forstmann’s losses.

If Forstmann is going to be busted, who in tennis is going to do it? If he is to be cleared, who will believe it?

“If it were a different player, I would hope that it’s obviously not true,” Federer told reporters Thursday at the tournament in Shanghai. “But because it involves my name somewhere out there, I know it’s 100 percent not true. Pretty relaxed about this because I’m for complete honesty for the sport.

“Leave the game better off then when I arrived to the sport, even though it was already a great platform I had. The last thing I would do is harm the sport … I would never do such a thing.”

Federer is the juicy part of the story, of course, but the real guts of it is IMG. If the head of the company that all-but owns a sport with a gambling problem, well, wow.

In tennis, It’s nearly impossible to burp without everyone in the game hearing it. The sport is one big happy incestuous family. Everything is way too interconnected.
The suit reportedly claims that after getting info from Federer about an injury before the 2006 French Open final against Rafael Nadal, Forstmann raised his bet against Federer.

It’s hard to believe Federer would be involved in this, would risk so much for no reason, no potential gain. The guy has all the money in the world already and seems to cherish his spot in tennis history.

He must have space to talk to an inner circle, and that would include his agent. If that happened, maybe the information somehow leaked around and found its way into the wrong hands. Or maybe none of this happened at all.

In tennis, It’s nearly impossible to burp without everyone in the game hearing it. The sport is one big happy incestuous family. Everything is way too interconnected.

For example, for the past several years, Patrick McEnroe has worked for the USTA, been the Davis Cup captain and analyzed tennis on TV. So he was providing supposedly objective commentary about players he was recruiting to his team?

Mary Joe Fernandez has the same issues as Fed Cup captain and TV analyst. Also, she is the wife of Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick. It will be interesting to hear her take on IMG and Federer and gambling.

Maybe she’ll be a bulldog on it? Hah!

Tournament owners, media, players, governing bodies all hold hands.

Well, the sport’s governing bodies formed the Tennis Integrity Unit after Nikolay Davydenko’s gambling scandal a few years ago. Without a smoking gun against him, Davydenko was able to continue playing.

Tennis takes gambling seriously, and doesn’t want the image problem stealing the game’s credibility. Of course, that doesn’t stop the Australian Open, and other tournaments, from having gambling houses as sponsors.

So has tennis begun and investigation into Federer and the IMG? No one would say.

“As part of the TIU’s operational protocols, it does not make public comment on any investigations it may or may not be undertaking,” Mark Harrison, of the TIU, wrote me in an email. “The only time it makes any announcement on its investigative work is when there is an outcome to report.

“On that basis, the TIU will not be commenting on the allegations concerning Roger Federer/IMG.”

Well, TMZ reports that IMG feels it is being extorted, that the lawsuit is a desperate attempt from a broke, unstable source. That could all be true.

Maybe IMG is tennis’ savior, putting money into a game during a terrible economy. The truth will come out soon enough.

Tennis might be in for a major fall. But if the story gains any traction, even if it turns out to be false, the conflicts will make even the truth hard enough to believe.

E-mail me at gregcouch09@aol.com. Follow me on Twitter @gregcouch