French tennis player banned for match fixing

The ITIA ruled Crepatte was involved in the fixing of three matches and noted a total of seven breaches of the TACP, including contriving the outcome or any other aspect of two events, directly or indirectly facilitating tennis betting and failing to report corrupt approaches to the ITIA.

The player, who reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of 276 in August 2019, will serve a three-year ban until 19 April 2026 and also pay a fine of $15,000 (£11,902/€13,664).

Crepatte, who contested the charges, will be prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis for the duration of the ban.

Specific charges issued by the ITIA included Section D.1.b of the TACP, which states players must not, directly or indirectly, solicit or facilitate any other person to bet on the outcome or any other aspect of an event or any other tennis competition.

The ITIA also highlighted Section D.1.d, where covered personnel must not contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any event.

In addition, Crepatte was found in breach of Section D.2.a.i, which requires players and other personnel to report any approaches of match fixing to the relevant body as soon as possible. 

The case was the latest in a series of investigations pursued by the ITIA in conjunction with law enforcement investigations in Belgium, which has seen a number of players implicated in match fixing incidents.