ITIA confirms provisional suspension of three players over match-fixing

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) is the current integrity watchdog for the sport that actively monitors compliance of the athletes and in the event of breaches, imposes penalties, including temporary and permanent bans, suspensions and monetary fines. Last week, the Agency revealed that it has taken action against three professional tennis players that have allegedly breached the rules within the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).

The ITIA revealed that it has provisionally suspended Timur Khabibulin, Sanjar Fayziev, as well as Igor Smilansky. The provisional suspensions of the players comes at a time when a sanction against them is pending over multiple breaches of the TACP.

The regulatory sanction against the three players follows an investigation that uncovered breaches. Consequently, Janie Soublière, an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO), upheld ITIA's charges against the three players that were allegedly involved in match-fixing activities.

Judging by a statement released by ITIA, Soublière determined that Khabibulin, who is a player from Kazakhstan, breached the TACP regulations on 18 occasions between 2014 and 2018. Khabibulin had the highest ATP singles ranking of 753 in 2016 for his professional career.

On the other hand, the Uzbekistani professional player, Fayziev, was involved in five breaches, according to ITIA. Back in 2017, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 253.

Last but not least, the Agency explained that Smilansky was involved in three breaches of the TACP rules. The player from Israel, had the highest ATP singles ranking of 451 in 2018. Both Smilansky and Fayziev were found to have been involved in the breaches "following an approach from Khabibulin," said the ITIA.

The tennis integrity watchdog revealed that the provisional suspension was enforced in line with section G.4.a of the TACP 2023 rules. The aforementioned section reads: "In the event that the Covered Person is found liable of one or more of the charges against them and sanction is not determined at the same time as the decision on liability, the AHO, either of the AHO’s own volition or on an application by the ITIA, must impose a Provisional Suspension pending the final decision on sanction."

According to the ITIA, the three players "were collectively found to have contrived aspects of matches, facilitating wagering." Additionally, they did not report the breaches, while Khabibulin "offered money to negatively influence players’ best efforts." It is yet to be determined what sanctions will be imposed against each of the tennis players.

In light of the suspension, they are not allowed to attend or compete in any tennis events sanctioned by the governing sports bodies. Although the provisional suspension was announced this month, it is in effect as of July 25, 2023, reveals the Agency.

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