The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) has handed Polish tennis player Piotr Gadomski an 18-month suspended sentence for violating the terms of an existing ban.
Gadomski, who has been ranked as high as 338th in the world, admitted that he attended the Wimbledon qualifying competition last year. Violating terms of his current ban, which forbids him for going to any tour events.
Gadomski was handed a seven-year ban in 2015 by the TIU after being found guilty of four corruption offences. Including ‘directly or indirectly soliciting or facilitating a player to not use his or her best efforts in an event.’ Another player, Arkadiusz Kocyla, was also banned for five years during what was a joint-hearing for both men.
As a result of his latest violation, the Pole will be suspended for a total of eight-and-a-half years if he commits another breech during his current ban.
“This breach is a new and additional corruption offence that was investigated by the Tennis Integrity Unit and considered by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer Professor Richard H McLaren.” The TIU said in a statement.
“His decision extends the original seven-year ban by a further period of 18 months. However, it is suspended provided that no further breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program take place during the remainder of the original suspension, or the subsequent period of 18 months.“
26-year-old Gadomski has never played in a grand slam tournament or won an ATP title. In 2013 he reached a high of 226th in the doubles. Overall, he has won a total of 13 Futures titles (ten of which were in the doubles) and has earned just over $60,000 in prize money.
Match-fixing in tennis has been under scrutiny since a joint investigation by the BBC and Buzzfeed News was published in January 2016. The report alleged widespread corruption, which the governing bodies of the sport denies. In October the European Sports Security Association (ESSA) confirmed they have notified relevant bodies of 46 suspicious tennis matches during the third quarter of 2017.
Tennis has one of the biggest betting markets in the world. According to British bookmaker Coral, they receive over 33,000 bets on tennis matches every year.
