Professional tennis players who lose matches on purpose or are involved in betting rackets should be banned for life, nine-times Wimbledon singles champion Martina Navratilova said.British newspaper reports here said that tennis authorities are to announce a clamp down on cheats on the opening day of Wimbledon on Monday, after a recent report by the authorities suggest that the sport was under threat from corruption.Navratilova said action was vital to protect the sport's integrity."I don't think it's been going for very long, but it's really difficult to track," she told BBC television."The only way to really check on it is by betting patterns - and obviously there have been some betting patterns which are very disconcerting."I think the only way to really deal with it would be to make extremely severe penalties. And to me, any player that would lose a match on purpose - they are done for life, lifetime ban."
