LONDON, January 19, 2024 (ITIA Press Release)
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) can today confirm that Tunisian tennis player Anis Ghorbel has been suspended from the sport for a period of three years, and fined $20,000, for four breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP). The sanction is linked to a recently concluded criminal case involving a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium. Collaboration between the ITIA and Belgian authorities led to a five-year custodial sentence for the leader of the syndicate, Grigor Sargsyan. Ghorbel – who held a career-high world singles ranking of 479 in 2016 – denied all charges related to the fixing of matches in 2016 and 2017. A hearing was held before independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Amani Khalifa on 22 December 2023. AHO Khalifa found Ghorbel liable for four breaches of the TACP in total, including two breaches of section D.2.a.i of the TACP (failure to report a corrupt approach); and one breach of sections D.1.b and D.1.d of the TACP (facilitating wagering on the outcome of a match, and contriving the outcome or aspect of a match, respectively). The suspension will run from the date of the decision (4 January 2024) until midnight of 3 January 2027. During the period of ineligibility, Ghorbel is 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, French Tennis Federation, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association.
