The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has today confirmed that Colombian tennis player Carlos Andrés Sepúlveda Navarro has been banned from the sport for three years after admitting to multiple breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules. In addition to the ban, Sepúlveda Navarro was fined $10,000 with $8,000 suspended.
The offences took place between 2015 and 2020 and Sepúlveda Navarro, who had a highest ATP singles ranking of 1579, is now prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or otherwise attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis for three years from 8 June 2021 to 8 June 2024.
The case was dealt with under the 2021 TACP ‘Proposal for Disposition’ framework. This allows for a sanction to be handed down from the ITIA to the player upon admission of guilt and acceptance of the sanction, without the need for a hearing and with no option of appeal.
The breaches of the TACP rules that Sepúlveda Navarro admitted to are:
Section D.1.a. “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, wager, conspire to wager or attempt to wager on the outcome or any other aspect of any Event or any other tennis competition”.
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.1.f. "No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or accept any money, benefit or Consideration with the intention of negatively influencing a Player's best efforts in 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 other aspect of any Event... it shall be the Player's obligation to report such incident to the ITIA as soon as possible."
Section D.2.c. “For the avoidance of doubt, a failure by any Covered Person to comply with (i) the reporting obligations set out in Section D. and/or (ii) the duty to cooperate under Section F.2.shall constitute a Corruption Offense for all purposes of the Program”.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency is an independent body established by the International Governing Bodies of Tennis to promote, encourage, enhance and safeguard the integrity of professional tennis worldwide.
Published 24 June 2021 16:30
