ITIA Bans Tennis Officials Over Corruption Charges
Date: 2024-01-04 Author: Dima Zakharov Categories: SPORTS BETTING
Officials Banned for Corruption in Tennis
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has made headlines by imposing substantial bans on four tennis officials for their involvement in corruption-related activities. Edvinas Grigaitis, Givi Khudoiani, Arsen Movsisyan, and Manuel Sperger have all been sanctioned following investigations into their actions.
Manuel Sperger's Seven-and-a-Half-Year Ban
Manuel Sperger, an Austrian national-level official, faces a severe seven-and-a-half-year ban, effective from December 18, 2023, to June 17, 2031. Additionally, he must pay a $25,000 fine, with $18,750 suspended. Sperger admitted to manipulating scores in 2016 and 2017 for betting purposes, which led to criminal proceedings against him in Austria.
Bans for Grigaitis, Khudoiani, and Movsisyan
Edvinas Grigaitis, a national-level official from Lithuania, received a three-year suspension for multiple breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). His suspension lasts from December 15, 2023, to December 14, 2026. Grigaitis was found guilty of delaying scoring data and participating in wagering on matches he was not involved in.
Givi Khudoiani from Georgia and Arsen Movsisyan from Armenia, both national-level officials, collaborated on manipulating scoring data for betting in 2019 and 2020. Khudoiani received a 14-year suspension and a $25,000 fine, while Movsisyan was banned for five years. These bans come after their provisional suspensions since July 14, 2021.
Match-Fixing Concerns
While the ITIA's statement did not explicitly mention a connection, these bans come on the heels of previous bans related to a Belgian match-fixing syndicate led by Grigor Sargsyan. The ITIA has now banned a total of 20 players since November 2023, as it continues to crack down on corruption in tennis.
