Rita has admitted to four breaches of the ITIA Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). These betting-related violations occurred between 2018 and 2020, including incidents of wagering on tennis matches and failure to report a corrupt approach, both violating the TACP rules.
Rita will be banned from all forms of professional tennis from January 26, 2024, to April 25, 2025. The ban covers playing at or attending events sanctioned by ITIA members and national associations. In addition, Rita, who reached a career-high ITF singles ranking of 1,712 in June last year, has been fined $5,000, with $4,000 suspended.
Rita is the latest player to be banned as part of ITIA’s efforts to combat corruption in tennis. France’s Maxence Broville was recently banned for seven years for failing to cooperate with an anti-corruption investigation. Bosnian official Damjan Dejanovic and Bulgarian official Stefan Milanov have also faced suspensions and bans over corruption charges.
The ITIA has been actively involved in addressing match-fixing cases, including collaboration with Belgian authorities that led to the conviction of syndicate leader Grigor Sargsyan and bans for several players involved in match-fixing activities.
French player Leny Mitjanam and Tunisian player Anis Ghorbel are among those who have been banned for corruption and match-fixing offences, highlighting the ongoing issue of corruption in tennis that the ITIA is diligently working to address.
