An underdog French tennis player received a lifetime ban from the game, while four additional individuals faced penalties ranging from two to ten years, all due to involvement in match-fixing connected to a group based in Belgium, as reported by the International Tennis Integrity Agency on Friday.
A minimum of 60 current or past athletes have faced penalties due to their association with Grigor Sargsyan, the crime boss who was earlier handed a five-year prison term in this matter.
Yannick Thivant, aged 38, received a lifelong suspension and was ordered to pay a fine of $75,000 when he admitted to fixing 22 games between 2017 and 2018; this included 16 matches he participated in himself. In 2015, his highest global standing as a player hit number 590.
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Thomas Setodji, aged 29, has been prohibited from competition for ten years and fined $20,000 after being deemed responsible for manipulating three games in 2017 and not reporting an individual who solicited his involvement in match-fixing activities the following year. At his peak rank last year, Setodji reached position number 794 globally.
Thomas Brechemier, aged 28, received a suspension of 7 1/2 years and was also fined when he admitted to tampering with 11 games between 2017 and 2018. In 2017, Brechemier’s highest world rank reached No. 399.
Gabriel Petit, 29, was banned for 6 1/2 years and fined after failing to respond to charges from the ITIA, which the integrity agency considers an acceptance of liability. Petit, who reached No. 450 in the rankings in 2018, was accused of fixing seven matches in 2017 and 2018.
Hugo Daubias, 28, got a two-year suspension and a $15,000 fine after admitting he fixed two matches in 2017. He was ranked a career-high 972nd in 2017.