ITIA suspends three players for breaching anti-corruption code

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has announced sanctions on three players for their role in match-fixing. As per the press release, all three players found guilty of breaching the anti-corruption code were thus handed different punishments.

Thailand’s Anapat Timangkul received the longest ban and heaviest fine after he admitted to ‘contriving the outcome of five matches between September 2023 and February 2024’. He was handed a suspension of three years and nine months along with a fine of $30,000, of which $21,000 will be suspended. His suspension will start from October 2024, when he was first suspended.

Romania’s Alexandra Iordache, after admitting to ‘outcome of one match in 2023 in exchange for payment, conveying a corrupt approach to another player, and arranging the destruction of evidence’, was handed a suspension of two years with a fine of $15,000, out of which $5,000 remains suspended. His suspension will start from March 11 2025, and will end on March 10, 2027.

China’s Wang Chukang also received a suspension of eight months for breaching the anti-corruption code. He was fined $1,500 as well. Chukang initially denied the charges but was penalised after being found guilty in a hearing held remotely before independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Jack Forrest KC on 9 January 2025 of soliciting another player to fix the result of their match, stated the press release issued by the ITIA. The suspension of Chukang will begin on March 26, 2025, and will conclude on November 25 later this year.

The press release stated that during the suspension, the players will not be able to use the facilities of any bodies that are associated with ITIA. “During their periods of ineligibility, Iordache, Timangkul and Wang are prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association,” said the statement.