The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed the sanction of five players after it was found that they were in breach of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).
The sanctions have been linked to a 2023 criminal case involving a Belgian match-fixing syndicate, which resulted in a five-year custodial sentence for syndicate leader Grigor Sargsyan. The five players involved in this latest sanction have admitted to the TACP breaches and have agreed to the sanctions placed against them, waving their right to a hearing before an Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer.
The charges relate to 2017 and 2018 matches, with breaches including contriving the outcome of matches, accepting money for a suboptimal performance, facilitating betting and failure to report corruption. The sanctions are as follows:
Iván Endara – Five-year suspension and $15,000 fine. His suspension began 26 July 2024.
Mauricio Reséndiz Domínguez - Five-year suspension and $15,000 fine. His suspension began 15 July 2024.
Raúl Isaías Rosas-Zarur - Five-year suspension and $15,000 fine. His suspension began 23 July 2024.
Ivar Aramburu Contreras – Two-year and two-month suspension and $44,000 fine. His suspension began 8 January 2024.
Aitor Aramburu Contreras – One year and 10-month suspension and $25,200 fine. His suspension began 8 February 2024.
During their suspension periods, the players will be unable to play, coach or attend tennis matches authorised or sanctioned by ITIA members, including the ATP and Wimbledon.
Several other sanctions have been placed against players across a range of major sports leagues in recent months by their respective sporting bodies. This includes a six-year ban from tennis Chair Umpire Heriberto Morales Churata, and previous bans on Premier League footballers Ivan Toney and Sandro Tonali, Toronto Raptors' Jontay Porter in April and England bowler Brydon Carse in June.
Another notable sports betting scandal story in relation to players came from the MLB earlier this year when it was discovered that Los Angeles Dodgers' player Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, had been stealing from Ohtani to pay off gambling debts. While it was not the player at fault in this scenario, the story has picked up significant media traction, with a TV series in the works regarding the scandal.
