02 April 2023 , 17:15
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A British badminton star was sent vile rape and death threats after being accused of fixing a match.
Kirsty Gilmour was competing at the Swiss Open in Basel last week when she lost to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. Following the match, she was sent some harrowing messages by gamblers who had bet on her match and one even claimed the contest was fixed.
Gilmour expanded on the abusive messages accusing her of match fixing and said she had never been approached and asked to fix a match. "11-5 then 18-15 to lose 18-21. All you want is fixing match to earn dirty money, huh?" she recalled in an interview with BBC Scotland.
It went on to use offensive language, threatening to send someone to rape her and saying 'you are so idiot, ugly and dirty to play sport and to live'. "I wouldn't even know where to start. My reputation as a badminton player and a person is worth more than any money I could gain from fixing a match," she added. "Why would I go to all that effort and train 25 hours a week to purposely lose?"
Last month, the Badminton World Federation came to an agreement with sports data firm Stats Perform with the endeavour to further protect the sport and reduce suspicious betting activity on matches. Gilmour, who represents Scotland on the international stage, said players regularly experience that sort of abuse.
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"It's always from an anonymous account, no picture, no followers," she added. "My best guess is they are betting on matches and lost and they decided to take it out on me. It is never someone that's watched the match and knows about badminton the sport. I am basically a random horserace to them and it's not gone their way so they get personal."
Despite being used to receiving abuse online, Glamour admitted it does not get any easier to contend with. In fact, any abuse Gilmour receives affects her more when they target her performances on the court. "It hurts more when they target my play or me as a player,” she said.
Gilmour was accused of losing a match on purpose at the Swiss Open“You can send a death or rape threat to anyone but when they make it really personal about how I am bad at my job because they put money on it - those hurt more."
Keith Russell, CEO of Badminton Scotland, said they were aware of "the vile threat" received by the badminton star and stated the well-being of their players is their priority. “As a priority we have checked in with Kirsty and would also like to thank everyone who has supported her,” he began.
"We are proud that she has highlighted online abuse as an issue and brought her experience to people's attention. As a governing body who exist to bring people and communities together, we do not take abuse of this nature lightly. The mental health and wellbeing of all players and staff comes first and we will not tolerate abuse of any kind online or otherwise."