ITIA bans Dutch tennis coach Max Wenders for 12 years for match-fixing
Dutch tennis coach Max Wenders has been banned from the sport for 12 years after admitting multiple match-fixing charges.
The coach has been banned by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). He also admitted to destroying evidence requested by the ITIA (then the Tennis Integrity Unit) and failing to report a corrupt approach.
The case was originally heard by Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Professor Richard McLaren in April 2021, who ruled that Wenders should also pay a $12,000 fine. Publication of the sanction was delayed after submissions from the coach’s legal team, but McLaren has now lifted the prohibition.
Wenders is now banned from playing in, coaching at or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the sport’s governing bodies for a period of 12 years. That period began on 28 April 2021, the date of the decision.
Wenders admitted to three breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) rules, one of which states that “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive, attempt to contrive, agree to contrive, or conspire to contrive the outcome, or any other aspect, of any Event.”
Another of the breached rules states that “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, facilitate any Player to not use his or her best efforts in any Event.”
Wenders has reportedly worked with several players on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour as a coach, assistant or hitting partner, and is the former coach and boyfriend of American Sofia Kenin, who reached a career-high world ranking of 4th in March 2020.
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