The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has imposed a lifetime ban on French tennis player Alexis Musialek after he was found guilty of match-fixing offences.
Musialek, who reached the highest ATP singles career ranking of No. 255 in 2015, initially denied all allegations.
However, an investigation revealed his involvement in the manipulation of nine tennis matches between 2016 and 2018.
Among the infractions were the match-fixing and receiving money, benefits or considerations for doing so.
The 35-year-old also encouraged other players not to push themselves to the limit and failed to cooperate with an ITIA investigation by withholding evidence.
In total, Musialek was found guilty of violating the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) on 39 occasions.
The ruling means Musialek is banned from playing, training or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the sport’s governing bodies. The tennis player was also fined $50,000.
Musialek’s ban is linked to the Belgian case
The ITIA reported that the case is related to an ongoing joint effort with law enforcement authorities in Belgium to combat match-fixing.
This revealed several incidents of match-fixing in tennis, with several players having been implicated. Grigor Sargsyan, the ringleader of the scheme, was also sentenced to five years in prison.
In the case of Musialek, the ITIA stated that evidence from Belgian proceedings corroborated information obtained through investigations and alerts from the betting industry.
ITIA continues to fight match-fixing in tennis
The joint effort with the Belgian authorities forms part of the ITIA’s wider efforts to crack down on match-fixing.
Earlier this month, the ITIA provisionally suspended Timur Khabibulin, Sanjar Fayziev and Igor Smilansky for match-fixing.
All players were found guilty of violating the TACP on multiple occasions.
In June, the ITIA also imposed lifetime bans on Nastja Kolar and Alexandra Riley for multiple TACP violations. The infractions, all related to match-fixing, occurred between 2015 and 2020.
