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Uzbekistan tennis players banned over match fixing charges

| By Robert Fletcher
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has issued bans to professional Uzbekistan players Temur Ismailov and Amal Sultanbekov after they were found guilty of match fixing at a tournament in 2019.
ITIA Tennis Suspension

Ismailov was already serving a seven-year ban after a previous conviction but will now face a lifetime ban from the sport and was fined an additional $14,000 (£10,190/€11,889), while Sultanbekov has been banned for five years and fined $8,000.

The sanctions mean both players are prohibited from playing in or attending tennis events authorised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis.

The ITIA did not go into further detail on the case in terms of the tournament where the offences took players, but it did state that both players were found guilty of three breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules.

These included D.1.k, where no covered person shall or conspire to solicit or facilitate any other person to contrive, attempt to contrive or conspire to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of an event.

ITIA also referenced D.1.d, which states that no player shall contrive, attempt to contrive or conspire to contrive the outcome or any aspect, of an event.

The third breach was in reference to D.2.a.i, whereby if a player is approached by a party to influence the outcome or any other aspect of an event must report this to the Tennis Integrity Unit at the earliest opportunity.

In addition, Ismailov was found guilty of D.1.e, whereby no player shall, directly or indirectly, solicit, facilitate, or conspire to solicit or facilitate any player to not use their best efforts in any event.

Ismailov had a highest ATP ranking of 397 and Sultanbekov had a highest ATP ranking of 1886.

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