Tennis Match-Fixing Investigation Ongoing With More Players Expected to be Charged

An international investigation into tennis match-fixing is ongoing, with seven individuals already arrested and more expected to follow. Players involved are believed to be lower-ranked and young, with criminal groups targeting them with bribes.

Commissioner General Stéphane Piallat, head of the French police’s racing and gambling investigations unit, said, “We’re talking about young, lower-ranked players who can be bought for not much, because they can’t make a living from the sport or because, at that age, it’s hard to resist the lure of easy money.”

Economist and match-fixing researcher David Forrest said it is understandable for players not earning high salaries to be tempted by match-fixing. It makes the recent cases involving highly paid NBA and MLB players more difficult to understand.

The tennis players ranked well outside the ATP top 100 were more tempted. One player, arrested in October, said he was initially offered €500 ($580). He refused, but the criminal gang increased the amount: €700, €1,000, €2,000. At €5,000 ($5,800), the player accepted.

Another player arrested said he became involved after slipping down the rankings. He had to keep up with loan payments, expenses for traveling to tournaments, and the expectation of appearing successful.

At Least 45 Matches Fixed

Investigations have revealed that the gang fixed at least 45 tennis matches between 2018 and 2024. A statement from the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation said this generated illicit winnings from bets of at least €800,000 ($931,000).

Of the seven arrested, five are French, one is Romanian, and one is Bulgarian, and all are aged between 23 and 29. Three have been identified as French tennis players, but have not been publicly named.

It is unclear whether they are some of the players that the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) sanctioned earlier this year. The ITIA handed down bans to the following players:

• Yannick Thivant — lifetime ban and fined $75,000, admitted fixing 22 matches
• Thomas Brechemier — 7.5-year suspension and fined $40,000, admitted fixing 11 matches
• Gabriel Petit — 6.5-year suspension and fined $35,000, did not respond to charges
• Thomas Setodji — 10-year suspension and fined $20,000, admitted fixing 3 matches and failing to report a corrupt approach
• Hugo Daubias — 2-year suspension and fined $15,000, admitted fixing 2 matches

Additionally, reports have identified former Bulgarian tennis players Karen Khachatryan, Juri Khachatryan, Dilyan Yanev, and Anzhel Yanev as part of the group.

The ITIA banned the Khachatryan brothers in 2020 after the players were found to be both fixing their own matches and approaching other players to do the same on behalf of the gang.

More Players Will Face Charges

The ongoing investigation has identified matches worldwide that were fixed. These include tournaments in Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Egypt, and Tunisia.

Laurence Monnier-Saillol, a lawyer for one of those facing charges, said more will be arrested in the case. In comments to French news outlet Le Monde, he stated, “The investigation is not finished; there are international ramifications beyond my client.”

Investigators have been examining videos to identify occasions when players have been throwing matches. “But it’s not enough to watch a single point, not even one match. Video analysis can highlight doubt, not certainty. You need to back it up with other investigative elements,” said Piallat.

Prosecutor Jean-Yves Lourgouilloux added, “Behind what may seem like insignificant fraud in an unremarkable match, there are cases of international corruption with far-reaching ramifications and a financial windfall for these criminal networks, which is why we need to pay closer attention.” 

Taking Action Against Match-Fixing

Lourgouilloux urged tennis’s authorities to investigate cases more thoroughly to uncover the criminal gangs behind the match-fixing. He stated, “Sports authorities need to realize that suspending players when there are suspicions is not enough. The networks need to be taken down, because they will always find another player to replace the one who got caught.”

Amid the betting scandals in the US, lawmakers have similarly called on sports leagues to do more to clamp down on match-fixing. MLB said it will assist prosecutors by providing documents to aid the gambling investigations of Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase.

Continued scandals have eroded the public’s faith in the integrity of sports. A third of Americans believe NBA players and coaches deliberately influence bets.

In tennis, the problem of match-fixing is even more rife. It is second only to soccer in having the most alerts of suspicious betting activity. France’s gambling regulator said “fixers are increasingly targeting lower-level competitions” and “no sport is immune.”