Lifetime ban for match-fixing on Tennis star Souza

Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), the sport’s anti-corruption body, has banned Brazilian tennis player Joao Olavo Soares de Souza for life from the sport. He was convicted of various match-fixing and related corruption crimes.

The TIU also ordered Souza to pay a fine of $200,000 (€181,319/£153,057) after investigations found him guilty of breaching the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) many times between 2015 and 2019.

Violations included repeat instances of match-fixing in ATP Challenger and ITF Futures events held in the US, Czech Republic, and Brazil.

Besides match-fixing, Souza was also charged with failing to report corruption approaches, failing to provide full cooperation to the TIU, destroying evidence and approaching other players not to put in their best efforts.

Specific breaches of the TCAP included Sections D.1.d, D.1.e, D.1.f, D.2.a.i and F.2.b.

Prof. Richard McLaren, an Independent anti-corruption hearing officer issued the fine and the ban after hearing the case on 14 January. The ban became effective on 24 January. Souza will no longer be able to compete in or attend any event recognised or organised by a tennis governing body.

The 31-year old tennis pro enjoyed an ATP ranking of 742 in singles, having seen a career-high of 69 in April 2015. His highest doubles ranking of 70 came in January 2013.

Souza had already been handed down a provisional suspension from professional tennis in last March, pending the conclusion of the TIU investigation.

In response to the verdict, The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), the integrity monitoring body formerly previously called ESSA, welcomed the decision while praising TIU’s work.

An IBIA spokesperson said, “The IBIA welcomes the decision to impose a lifetime ban and $200,000 fine on Joao Olavo Soares de Souza after a conviction on match-fixing charges.”

“IBIA and its members will continue to work closely with the TIU and the association is confident that the measures being taken by the sport aligned with the detailed customer-based data provided by IBIA members will continue to enable the identification and punishment of betting-related corruption in tennis.”

The ruling follows last week’s TIU revelation of having received 138 reports of dubious match activities in 2019. This is the lowest yearly number since 2015 when TIU first made its integrity data public.

The total for the year of 2019 also showed a decline of 4.7% compared to the 2018 number of 264 alerts.