Tennis Integrity Watchdog ITIA Bans Chinese and Chilean Player

Last week, the ITIA announced it imposed a sanction against Chinese player Baoluo Zheng.

Chinese Player Banned over Match-Fixing

The Agency acknowledged that Zheng admitted to breaching the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules which resulted in a ban for nine months. In addition, the ITIA fined the player $5,000 (with $2,000 suspended). According to the integrity watchdog, the Chinese player “approached an opponent and offered money in return for deliberately losing a match at a tournament in Egypt in October 2022.”

Overall, the ITIA said that Zheng admitted to multiple breaches of the TACP rules including Section D.1.g, Section D.1.n, Section D.1.d, Section D.1.o and Section D.1.e. Details released by the Agency explain that Section D.1.g forbids “covered” people, or otherwise players, coaches or other tennis officials to offer or accept money in exchange to affecting the player’s best performance within an event.

On the other hand, Section D.1.n forbids corruption, while Section D.1.d forbids covered people from impacting the outcome of any event. Finally, Section D.1.o of the TACP forbids covered persons from “directly or indirectly, solicit, facilitate or incite any other person to commit, attempt, agree or conspire to commit any Corruption Offense,” while D.1.e forbids players from not using their best efforts as a part of any events. The ITIA explained that the suspension against Zheng was initiated on October 27, 2022. Zheng’s suspension will last until July 26, 2023, and during this time, the player is not allowed to participate in or attend any tennis events authorized by the governing bodies of tennis, the Agency reminded.

ITIA Bans Chilean Player for Three Years

Another sanction was imposed last week by ITIA against a different tennis player. Bárbara Gatica Avilés, a Chilean tennis player received a three-year ban over breaches of the TACP rules, the agency revealed. At the time of the announcement, the ITIA said that the ban is effective from December 9, 2022, until December 8, 2025. Besides the ban, Avilés was fined $5,000 as well.

Additional details released by the ITIA state that Avilés admitted to losing a match in exchange for payment back in 2016. As a result, the Agency found her guilty of breaching three 2016 TACP rules. Under the ban, the 26-year-old Avilés is prohibited from attending or playing in any event sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis.