Game, set, match-fixing ban
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has handed a French tennis star a career-ending ban for match fixing.
ITIA on Thursday published its sanction of Quentin Folliot, 26, for a score of violations against the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program. Along with a 20-year ban, ITIA also fined Folliot $105,000 and ordered him to “pay back corrupt payments worth more than $66,000.”
The London-based integrity body took to X with news of Folliot’s sanction for 27 violations:
The Frenchman is the sixth tennis player to be sanctioned as part of the probe along with Paul Valsecchi, Jaimee Floyd-Angele, Luc Fomba, Enzo Rimoli, and Lucas Bouquet.
Central figure
Folliot was outed by an ITIA investigation that found he was “a central figure in a network of players operating on behalf of a match-fixing syndicate.”
The findings come from a remote hearing held before independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Amani Khalifa in October.
actively recruiting other players”
Khalifa’s December 1 written decision characterised Folliot as “a vector for a wider criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other players and attempting to embed corruption more deeply into the professional tours.”
The AHO upheld 27 of 30 charges leveled against Folliot relating to ten tennis matches.
According to an ITIA press release, the three charges dropped were for providing inside information, “failure to report a corrupt approach, and contriving the outcome of a match” for a January 2024 doubles match.
Heavy penalty served
Both Folliot’s career-ending ban and his fine is one of the ITIA’s biggest sanctions. Khalifa, however, revealed aggravating factors, including the player’s “wilful obstruction of an ITIA investigation.”
Folliot’s ban will end on 16 May 2044 and until then he is banned from playing, coaching, or attending any professional tennis event authorized or sanctioned by ITIA member organizations including the ATP, ITF, WTA, USTA, and Wimbledon.
