TIU Press Release, September 3, 2018

Argentinian tennis player Patricio Heras has been banned from professional tennis for five years and fined $25,000 for match-fixing and other related offences. Two years of the ban are suspended on the basis that he commits no further breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.

On 27 July 2018 Mr Heras was convicted of contriving the outcome of a match played at the ATP Challenger tournament in Barranquilla, Colombia in September 2015.

He was also found guilty of failing to report a number of corrupt approaches he received during August and September 2015, to the Tennis Integrity Unit.

Today’s decision on sanction from independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer Jane Mulcahy QC concludes the case against Mr Heras.

The start of his suspension has been backdated to 27 July 2018, the date he was found guilty of the offences. He is prohibited from competing in, or attending, any sanctioned events organised or recognised by the governing bodies of the sport for the duration of his suspension.

The 29-year old is ranked 307 in singles and has a career-high of 269 achieved in September 2013.

The breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program he was proven to have committed are:

Section D.1.d: “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any Event.” 

Section D.2.a.i: “In the event any Player is approached by any person who offers or provides any type of money, benefit or Consideration to a Player to (i) influence the outcome or any aspect of any Event, or (ii) provide Inside Information, it shall be the Player’s obligation to report such incident to the TIU as soon as possible.”

Section D.2.c:”For the avoidance of doubt, (i) a failure of the Reporting Obligation by any Covered Person… shall constitute a Corruption Offense for the purposes of the Program.”