LONDON — The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Thursday that French tennis player Quentin Folliot has been suspended for 20 years and fined $70,000 for match-fixing.
The ITIA said Folliot was also ordered to repay “corrupt payments” totaling more than $44,000 for “committing 27 violations of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).”
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Folliot’s suspension will end in May 2044, “subject to repayment of unpaid fines.” Time served under provisional suspension in May 2024 will be credited toward the player’s period of ineligibility.
During the period of ineligibility, the ITIA said Folliot is prohibited from “playing, coaching or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by members of the ITIA…or any national association.”
The ITIA said its investigation found Folliot, 26, was “a central figure in a network of players acting on behalf of a match-fixing syndicate”.
Folliot is the sixth player to be sanctioned following the investigation, following the cases of Jaimee Floyd-Angele, Paul Valsecchi, Luc Fomba, Lucas Bouquet and Enzo Rimoli.
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The ITIA said Folliot, world number 488 in 2022, has denied 30 charges relating to 11 tennis matches between 2022 and 2024, eight of which Folliot played.
“The charges included manipulating the outcome of matches, receiving money for not doing their best for betting purposes, offering money to other players to fix matches, providing inside information, conspiring to bribe, failing to cooperate with an ITIA investigation and destroying evidence,” the ITIA said.
It said a remote hearing was held in October before independent anti-corruption hearing officer (AHO) Amani Khalifa, who upheld 27 of 30 charges, relating to 10 of 11 matches.
Three charges related to a 2024 doubles match – providing inside information, failure to report a corrupt approach and tampering with the outcome of a match – were dismissed.
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In the Dec. 1 written ruling, the ITIA said Khalifa called Folliot “a conduit for a broader criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other actors and attempting to entrench corruption more deeply in professional tours.”
In determining the sanction, Khalifa also took into account aggravating factors, including Folliot’s deliberate obstruction of an ITIA investigation.
The ITIA is an independent body “established by its tennis members to promote, encourage, improve and safeguard the integrity of their professional tennis events”.
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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
