Tennis Star Handed One of Biggest Bans in Sport's History for Match-Fixing
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed that they have handed out one of the biggest bans in the history of the sport.
French tennis player Quentin Folliot received the punishment after he was found to have committed 27 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.
In a public statement, the ITIA confirmed that the 26-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of world No 488, has been suspended from the sport for a period of 20 years.
On top of this, Folliot has been fined $70,000, and must repay corrupt payments totalling more than $44,000.
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Folliot has denied all 30 charges against him relating to 11 tennis matches between 2022 and 2024, eight of which Folliot played in.
The statement from the ITIA claims that he was "a central figure in a network of players operating on behalf of a match-fixing syndicate".
Folliot is the sixth player to be sanctioned as a result of an extensive investigation, following the cases of Jaimee Floyd-Angele, Paul Valsecchi, Luc Fomba, Lucas Bouquet and Enzo Rimoli.
His lengthy suspension is set to end in May 2044, with all time already served under a provisional ban given to him in May 2024 already being credited.
But, the ban could be extended further should Folliot fail to make a full full repayment of his outstanding fines.
During his suspension, Folliot is strictly prohibited from participating in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by ITIA members or any national association.
The charges against the French player relate to several offences including contriving match outcomes, accepting money for not giving best efforts for betting purposes, offering bribes to other players to fix matches, providing inside information, conspiracy to corrupt, failing to cooperate with an ITIA investigation, and destroying evidence.
In a hearing overseen independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Amani Khalifa in October, 27 of the 30 charges, relating to 10 of the 11 matches.
In her written decision, Khalifa described Folliot as "a vector for a wider criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other players and attempting to embed corruption more deeply into the professional tours."
It is added that Khlifa also considered Folliotâs deliberate obstruction of the ITIA investigation, when determining the sanction.
Topics:Â Tennis
Ben McCrum