Serb player banned until 2050 for tennis match-fixing

Key points

• Serbian tennis player Stefan Milicevic received a 24-year suspension for match-fixing.
• He was charged with fixing six matches and attempting to fix six more between 2022 and 2024.
• The ITIA said he did not cooperate with its investigation despite seven contact attempts.

Serbian tennis player Stefan Milicevic has been suspended for 24 years after being found guilty of match-fixing, the International Tennis Integrity Authority (ITIA) announced. The ban, one of the harshest penalties ever imposed by anti-corruption investigators outside a lifetime ban, will keep Milicevic out of the sport until October 2050.

Milicevic, who reached a career-high world ranking of 1,338th in 2014, was charged with fixing six matches, five of which he played in. The 29-year-old, who competed on the lower levels of professional tennis, was also charged with attempting to fix six additional matches between 2022 and 2024.

Recruitment and lack of cooperation

The ITIA said Milicevic was also charged with recruiting or attempting to recruit multiple professional players as part of a corrupt network. Players he recruited have themselves been accused by the ITIA of fixing matches.

The severity of the sanction was partly due to Milicevic's lack of cooperation. The ITIA said he did not engage in the investigation despite seven separate attempts by the independent body to contact him.

did not engage

— ITIA

Penalties and restrictions

Along with the suspension, Milicevic received a £53,000 fine. While banned, he is prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or attending any events organized or sanctioned by World Tennis, the WTA, ATP, Grand Slams, or any national association.

The ITIA said Milicevic's ban is one of the most severe punishments it has imposed outside of a lifetime ban. In December, French player Quentin Folliot was banned for 20 years after the ITIA found he was a central figure in a match-fixing network.