The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has suspended French tennis player Quentin Folliot for 20 years for match-fixing. They also fined him $70,000 and required him to repay “corrupt payments” totaling more than $44,000.
“26-year-old Folliot was discovered through an ITIA investigation to be a central figure in a network of players operating on behalf of a match-fixing syndicate,” the International Tennis Integrity Agency wrote in a statement announcing the suspension.
The ITIA found Folliot guilty of committing 27 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP). Charges against him included contriving the outcome of matches and receiving money for betting purposes. He also faced charges for offering money to other players to fix matches, providing inside information, and conspiring to corrupt. In addition, authorities found him guilty of failing to cooperate with the investigation and destroying evidence.
Authorities accuse Quentin Folliot of being part of a ‘criminal syndicate’
Amani Khalifa, the independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer who upheld 27 of the 30 charges made against Folliot, called him “a vector for a wider criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other players and attempting to embed corruption more deeply into the professional tours.”
Quentin Folliot, whose career-high world singles ranking is 488th, will be eligible to compete again on May 16, 2044. Until then, the organization prohibits him from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event sanctioned by members of the ITIA. That includes ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon, USTA, or any national association.
Other players who already received sanctions and suspensions related to match-fixing include Jaimee Floyd-Angele, Paul Valsecchi, Luc Fomba, Lucas Bouquet, Tom Jomby, Anze Arh, Natthasith Kunsuwan, Christian Lindell, Samuel Bensoussan, and Enzo Rimoli. Their suspensions ranged from six weeks for Bouquet to 12 years for Kunsuwan.