TIU Press Release, July 13, 2018

Colombian tennis player Robert Farah has been suspended for three months and fined $5,000 for facilitating betting by promoting a gambling website on social media.

The full period of ineligibility is suspended on the basis that no further breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) are committed within the three months.

In February 2018 Mr Farah posted a Tweet endorsing an online betting company, in contravention of Section D.1.b of the TACP, which states that:

No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or facilitate any other person to wager on the outcome or any other aspect of any Event or any other tennis competition. For the avoidance of doubt, to solicit or facilitate to wager shall include… appearing in commercials encouraging others to bet on tennis.

When contacted by the Tennis Integrity Unit Mr Farah removed the post, apologised for his error and co-operated fully with the investigation.

The case was adjudicated by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer Ian Mill QC, who accepted that the player had made an honest mistake, which would not be repeated.

Mr Farah, 31, is currently ranked 16 in doubles and has a career-high singles ranking of 163 achieved in June 2011.

The Tennis Integrity Unit is an initiative of the Grand Slam Board, the International Tennis Federation, the ATP and the WTA, who are jointly committed to a zero tolerance approach to corruption in tennis.