João Souza, a player who was once ranked as 69th in ATP men’s tennis ranking got permanently banned from professional tennis. He has been suspended from tennis due to match-fixing.
Match Fixing in Tennis
The issue of match-fixing in tennis is an ongoing problem and there is nothing we can do about it. Truth to be told, tennis is a sport where is relatively easy to fix matches due to its nature. It is a game between only 2 players and one of them can easily take a bribe and lose on purpose. It is really hard to catch them but once they are caught, it means lifetime suspension.
Even a former professional Russian player Nikolay Davydenko, who was one No. 3 on AWP men’s tennis ranking, was allegedly accused of match-fixing but he was cleared of all accusations by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU).
However, match-fixing in tennis is very rare in the Top 100 and every good player does not want to involve in that and take the risk. That’s why we suggest every bettor not to bet on low-tier tournaments. Instead, bet on high-tier tournaments and avoid any potential fixed matches. Check out the current tennis rankings on this link and try to bet only on players from that list: https://tennisbetslab.com/tennis-rankings/.
João Souza Lifetime Suspension From Professional Tennis
This 31 years old player was in top form just 4 years ago. He was in Top 100 on ATP list a therefore able to participate on Gland Slam tournaments. What could possibly happen to make him do this?
As we all know his career has gone downhill ever since and that is probably the main reason why he turned to match-fixing. It is common knowledge that the money one tennis player could potentially earn former Challenger and Future tournaments isn’t enough to cover the costs of a professional tennis player. He knew that he can earn more by fixing matches and that is exactly what he has done.
A special Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) has revealed in its investigation that the Brazilian had several anti-corruption offences between 2015 and 2019. He fixed matches at second and third class Challengers and Futures in Brazil, Mexico, the United States and the Czech Republic.
During the investigation, he failed to cooperate with TIU and even destroyed evidence. In addition to participating in this fraud himself, he was also accused of encouraging others to participate as well.
Souza was originally suspended in March last year and has been suspended from tennis for the duration of his investigation. After the finish of the investigation, he got permanently banned and has to pay an additional fine of $ 200,000 for a disciplinary hearing in London which happened on January 14.
This was a big slap to the tennis world and we hope it won’t happen again in the near future. What do you think about match-fixing in tennis? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
