ITIA suspends tennis officials over betting corruption
Luis Rodriguez, Antonio Sosa and Wellingthon Lopez have all been charged over corruption. Each tennis official denied the charges relating to breaches between 2018 and 2021.
According to the ITIA, the officials entered false data into match scoring devices to facilitate betting. The ITIA deemed their actions as breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP).
Rodriguez issued lifetime ban from tennis
In the case of Rodriguez, he denied charges over six matches in the Dominican Republic between 2018 and 2020. However, a hearing in December 2024 found him guilty of the breaches.
Independent anti-corruption hearing officer (AHO) Richard Young issued a lifetime ban and a $15,000 (£11,386/€13,184) fine. This came into effect on 21 January this year.
“As a chair umpire, he was in an important position of trust charged with upholding the integrity of the sport. This was not a one-off occurrence of bad judgment,” Young said.
Lengthy suspensions over corruption
Meanwhile, Sosa denied charges relating to two matches in the Dominican Republic in 2021. A December hearing led to Young upholding the charges, for which Sosa was suspended for five years and fined $3,000.
The suspension was, however, backdated to October 2022. As such, Sosa will be eligible to officiate again from October 2027.
Finally, Wellingthon Lopez denied charges relating to two matches in the Dominican Republic in 2019 and 2020. Again, Young upheld the charges after a hearing in February.
Lopez will serve a four-and-a-half-year suspension and pay a $1,000 fine. The ban has been backdated to October 2021, making him ineligible until April next year.
Belgian match-fixing case rumbles on
The charges come after the ITIA earlier this month also issued heavy sanctions against a further five players over their links to a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium.
Yannick Thivant, Thomas Brechemier, Gabriel Petit, Thomas Setodji and Hugo Daubias have all been banned or suspended from tennis. The ITIA said each player committed corruption offences during 2017 or 2018.
The organisation also confirmed each case is linked to the high-profile match-fixing syndicate led by Grigor Sargsyan.