A former top 500 doubles player has been handed a lifetime ban after an investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) found him guilty of a record number of match-fixing violations.
Younes Rachidi has been found guilty of 135 offences which is the highest number committed by an individual in the history of both the ITIA and its predecessor (TIU). The 36-year-old Moroccan achieved a ranking high of 473 in the doubles but hasn’t played a competitive match on the Tour since 2017.
In a statement, the ITIA described Rachidi’s breaches as ‘egregious’ and has also fined him $34,000 in addition to his ban. He is now prohibited from playing in, coaching at or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis. The multiple offences are linked to five separate clauses of the 2017 and 2018 Tennis Anti-Corruption Programmes (TACP) :-
- D.1.d: No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any Event.
- D.1.e: No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or facilitate any Player to not use his or her best efforts in any Event.
- D.1.f: No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or accept any money, benefit or Consideration with the intention of negatively influencing a Player’s best efforts in any Event.
- D.1.g: No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, offer or provide any money, benefit or Consideration to any other Covered Person with the intention of negatively influencing a Player’s best efforts in any Event.
- D.2.a.i: In the event any Player is approached by any person who offers or provides any type of money, benefit or Consideration to a Player to (i) influence the outcome or any other aspect of any Event, or (ii) provide Inside Information, it shall be the Player’s obligation to report such incident to the TIU [Now ITIA] as soon as possible.
The case, which was overseen by Anti-Corruption Hearing Office Janie Soublière, has linked Rachidi with two Algerian players who have also been banned from the sport.
Mohamed Hassan has been banned for life from the sport and fined $12,000 after being found guilty of 29 offences relating to seven matches between 2016 and 2018.
Meanwhile, Houria Boukholda has been banned for two years (with 18 months suspended) and fined $10,000 (with $9,000 suspended) for 15 offences relating to five matches in 2017 and 2018. Boukholda’s penalty was significantly less due to his age at the time of the incidents and an investigation found he was heavily influenced by Hassan.
The trio of players had been under investigation as part of a police law enforcement operation conducted in Belgium along with the ITIA.
