The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), punished French judge David Rocher after he was found guilty of violating the sport’s betting rules.
Rocher was banned from exercising his function for 18 months, with four months of suspension, and fined $ 5,000 for placing 11 bets on tennis matches between January and October 2019, violating rules set out in the Anti-Corruption Tennis Program ( TACP).
The Frenchman was found guilty of disrespecting section D.1.a of the TACP, which states that “no person involved should, directly or indirectly, bet on the outcome or on any other aspect of any event or any other tennis competition”.
The line judge was also accused of not cooperating with the TIU investigation, but he contested this charge after admitting to having made the aforementioned bets. The case was overseen by anti-corruption hearings officer Ian Mill QC.
Rocher was banned for six months as a result of irregularities with sports betting and 18 months for lack of cooperation. The punishments took effect from the date of the decision on December 6 and extend until February 6, 2022. That is, he cannot work or attend any tennis match during this period.
As such, the Frenchman joins several other tennis players or officials who have been banned by TIU in recent months, while the integrity body continues its work of investigating and cracking down on match-fixing.
TIU sentenced tennis players in 2020 for gambling involvement
Last month, Spanish tennis player Enrique Lopez Perez was suspended for eight years after being found guilty of match-fixing, while Bulgarian player Aleksandrina Naydenova was banned forever.
In October of this year, brothers Karen and Yuri Khachatryan were banned for similar crimes, with Karen away from the sport forever and Yuri banned from playing for 10 years.
