Murray criticised by Nadal for 'going overboard' on corruption

Andy Murray may think twice about discussing contentious issues in future after his comments on corruption provoked stinging criticism from a senior colleague yesterday. On a day when he was knocked out of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the 20-year-old Scot came under fire from Rafael Nadal over an interview he gave to the BBC.

Murray issued a statement last night stressing that his comments about betting and match-fixing had been taken out of contest. "When I said that 'everyone knows that it's going on' I meant that everyone has probably heard that three or four players have spoken out about being offered money to lose matches – which they refused," he said. "I am glad that the governing bodies are coming together to set up an anti corruption unit to address this."

Earlier in the day Nadal said he had seen no evidence to back up Murray's claims. "I think he's gone overboard and I don't think anything like that happens," Nadal said in Madrid. "I'm No 2 in the world. I've been in all the meetings, I see what goes on on the circuit just like him and I'm not so stupid as to not know what is going on. I doubt very much that he knows more than anyone else. Everyone gives it 100 per cent and there are no fixed games."

A match involving Nikolay Davydenko provoked the current corruption controversy. Betfair, the online betting exchange, voided bets on a match in August between the Russian and Martin Vassallo Arguello because of irregular betting patterns. The Association of Tennis Professionals is still investigating.

Murray, speaking after his 6-4, 7-5 defeat by Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, said he would meet ATP officials in Madrid at next week's Masters series tournament to discuss his comments. "I've just spoken to quite a lot of the players and obviously something needs to be addressed," he said.

The ATP has been sent a document labelled "Suspect Tennis Matches", detailing matches where it is claimed there were suspicions of corruption. It is not clear who has compiled the list, which has been circulated around betting companies and tennis authorities.

"I saw this list earlier in thes week after it was passed on to me," Adrian Murdock, a spokesman for Betfair said. "It's already gained quite a lot of notoriety within the industry."

The ATP, which said earlier this week that players risked disciplinary action if they failed to report within 48 hours if they were approached to throw a match, is meeting representatives of the ITF, WTA and Grand Slams in London today to discuss the establishment of a joint "integrity unit".