Tennis player has ITIA match-fixing suspension reduced on appeal 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has partially upheld the appeal of a tennis player who was suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for match-fixing breaches. 

Swedish player Dragos Madaras, who reached a career high ranking of 191^st in 2023, was initially handed a four year and six-month suspension by the ITIA following breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).  

During a Wimbledon qualifying event in London in June 2023, Madaras was asked to hand over a black mobile phone to ITIA investigators following a second round qualifying loss.

Madaras instead handed over a blue phone, which the investigators determined wasn’t his primary mobile device due to the lack of data it contained.  

Refusal to hand over the correct phone was deemed as non-cooperation by the ITIA, leading to Madaras’ initial sanction.  

The phone was taken by Madaras’ brother, Patrick, who was falsely labelled as his hitting partner in order for him to gain accreditation to the event. 

After the ITIA investigators requested the black phone, Madaras handed the device to his brother who “ultimately ran away with the black phone in his hand”, according to the appeal document. 

Madaras’ appeal was centred around the fact that no formal written request for the phone was given, while the investigators argued that the oral request for the phone sufficed and therefore the player was still in breach of the TACP. 

Madaras was officially sanctioned in March 2024, with his ban also coupled with a $2,500 fine. His brother was suspended from attending ITIA events for two years and six months.

However, the CAS has now ruled that while Madaras was indeed still in breach of the TACP, his sanction was too harsh.  

He has instead been handed a two-year suspension rather than four years. The $2,500 fine remains unchanged.  

His suspension will now run from 17 August 2023 to 16 August 2025. 

Madaras had called his original punishment “evidently and grossly disproportionate”. The CAS said the reduction came as a result of following existing guidelines related to individual culpability and impact.

In addition to Madaras’ case, the CAS upheld the ITIA’s sanction handed out to French player Leny Mitjana.  

Mitjana, whose highest ranking was 458th, was given a 10-year suspension after breaches to the TACP in January of last year.

Not only did the CAS panel uphold the decision, but it determined Mitjana was guilty of a further 11 TACP breaches, bringing his total up to 22.  

The panel didn’t impose any further suspension, meaning Mitjana’s period of ineligibility will run from 22 December 2023 to 21 December 2033.  

The suspensions mean the players will be banned from playing in, coaching at or attending any tennis event authorised by ITIA members. 

This includes the ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon, USTA or any national association. 

Earlier this month, the ITIA announced that six players had been sanctioned and suspended for match-fixing offences which were linked back to a Belgian crime syndicate.