ITIA Bans Player from Kyrgyzstan for Betting Offenses

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has banned a tennis player from Kyrgyzstani for committing a series of offenses related to sports betting.

Ksenia Palkina Has Been Banned for 16 Years From Tennis

After she admitted to breaching a series of Tennis Anti-Corruption Program regulations in 2018 and 2019, Ksenia Palkina from Kyrgyzstani was found guilty and banned from tennis for 16 years. She will not be allowed to participate in or attend any tennis event authorized by any national or international tennis body or organization for the duration of the ban.

Palkina will be able to resume her career on November 21, 2029, as long as she steers clear of any future breaches related to sports betting. She was also given a $100,000 fine with a suspension of $87,500. The player who recorded a career-high Women’s Tennis Association ranking of 163 in singles will have her suspension backdated to November 22, 2019, the beginning of her provisional suspension. She will also benefit from a six-year suspension of the ban.

Match Fixing Offenses

The player breached a number of rules belonging to the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, including Section D.1.b part of TACP 2018 and 2019 stating that no covered person is allowed to “facilitate, or conspire to solicit or facilitate any other person to wager on the outcome or any other aspect of any Event or any other tennis competition”, either directly or indirectly.

This rule refers to a number of different activities, including the publishing of live tennis betting odds on a covered person’s website, the writing of articles for tennis betting platforms or newspapers, participating in events managed by operators offering tennis betting, or being part of advertisements that promote tennis betting. Palkina also breached Section D.1.f which prohibits players to receive money, benefits, or tokens of appreciation on the grounds of not giving their absolute best during tennis events or in order to negatively influence the players of other players.

The player was also found guilty of breaching Section of D.1.d which states tennis players are not allowed to contrive tennis event outcomes and any other aspects related to tennis games. She also breached Section D.1.e which speaks about players not using their best efforts during matches.

Plus, the ITIA mentioned Section D.2.a.i which requires players to immediately report any incident of a person offering them any benefits to influence the outcome of tennis events. In mid-April, professional US tennis player Adam El Mihdawy received an undetermined provisional suspension from the ITIA on terms of similar match-fixing accusations. His suspension will end when the ITIA will be done considering the match-fixing charges brought against him. Sportradar recorded a massive number of match-fixing signals in 2021.