A 26-year-old tennis player has been banned from the sport for three years after admitting to deliberately losing matches in exchange for payment, violating the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) rules. The ban will be in effect from 9 December of this year until 8 December 2025. In addition to the ban, the player, who has achieved a highest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking of 158, has been fined $5,000 (£4,099/€4,703).
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) found the player guilty of multiple breaches, including contriving or attempting to influence the outcome or any other aspect of a tennis event, as stated in Section D.1.d of the TACP rules. The player also violated Section D.1.b by soliciting or facilitating bets on match outcomes and Section D.1.f by accepting money to negatively impact their performance.
In a separate case, another player, aged 21, has been banned for nine months and fined $5,000, with $2,000 suspended. This player was found to have approached an opponent and offered money to purposely lose a match during a tournament in Egypt in October 2022. The ITIA handled this case under the 2022 TACP “agreed sanction” framework, allowing for a sanction to be issued upon admission of guilt without the need for a hearing. The suspension for this player started on 27 October 2022 and will conclude on 26 July 2023.
The specific breaches in the TACP rules highlighted in this case include Section D.1.d, D.1.g, D.1.n, and D.1.o of the 2022 regulations. These sections involve players offering or providing money or benefits to negatively influence another player’s performance, attempting or conspiring to commit corruption offenses, and soliciting or inciting others to commit corruption offenses. Additionally, the player was found to have breached Section D.1.e, which prohibits facilitating another player to not perform to their best abilities.
Last week, the ITIA announced the appointment of Karen Moorhouse as its new CEO, replacing Jonny Gray who stepped down in September. Moorhouse will assume the role on 6 February next year after serving over 14 years as the chief regulatory officer of the Rugby Football League in the UK.
