The global Tennis Integrity Agency (TIA) has revealed that three competitors from Egypt, Slovakia, and Uzbekistan have been prohibited from participating due to their involvement in sports wagering and match manipulation.
Mustafa Hatem, representing Egypt, whose peak ATP ranking was 1556, has been barred for a period of three years, with one year of the ban deferred, and has been levied a financial penalty of $3,000.
Hatem acknowledged multiple infractions, including planning or attempting to influence the outcome or other aspects of tennis matches, and failing to notify the TIA that he had been approached to engage in such activities.
Temur Ismailov, representing Uzbekistan, whose highest ATP singles ranking was 397, also confessed to participating in three match-fixing incidents during the years 2014, 2015, and 2019, and was fined $12,000 and given a seven-year ban, with two years deferred, effective from December 18, 2020.
The most stringent penalty issued by the TIA in this announcement was imposed on Dagmara Baskova of Slovakia, whom the agency determined to be guilty of five match-fixing offenses in 2017.
Baskova, whose highest WTA singles ranking was 1117 and doubles ranking was 777, was prohibited from participating for 12 years and fined $40,000.
The vast majority of penalties were put on hold, but a thousand dollars must be paid within three months.
These prohibitions were issued after a string of similar punishments given out throughout 2020 by the TIU, which was rebranded as the ITIA from the start of 2021. The organization will continue to be in charge of tennis betting integrity enforcement in 2021, and will add anti-doping to its duties in 2022.
Last May, the TIU alerted members of the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) that the sport was facing a growing threat of match-fixing due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The department declared in July that despite the postponement of most major international professional tournaments due to the pandemic, operators reported twenty-four suspicious betting activities related to the sport in the second quarter of 2020.
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