The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has announced that James Blake has accepted a sanction for breaching tennis’ betting sponsorship rules.
The Miami Open Tournament Director and former tennis player reportedly fully cooperated with the investigation and did not contest the charge.
Notably, the ITIA accepted that the violation was unintentional and has issued a fine of $56,250 with a further suspended fine of $131,250 and a suspended ban of 18 months.
Karen Moorhouse, ITIA CEO, commented, “Across our members – the ATP, WTA, ITF and Grand Slams – the rules prohibit accredited individuals from having commercial relationships with betting companies.
“This case is more a matter of perception, rather than corruption. The rules apply to players, coaches, officials and accredited tournament staff – who all have the ability to influence results or have access to inside information.
“We urge anyone in the sport who is unclear or is considering commercial deals like this to get in touch with us to seek guidance.”
The governing body explained that as a Tournament Director, Blake is considered a “covered person”, who must comply with the sport’s rules around relationships with betting operators.
The aforementioned additional fine and suspension do not come into force unless there is a further breach of the rules during the 18-month period, which started on 9 February 2024.
The Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules state that: “No Covered Person shall directly or indirectly, facilitate, encourage and/or promote Tennis Betting (‘Facilitation’).”
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the ITIA suspended Maxence Broville from the sport for a period of seven years and fined $5,000 for failure to cooperate with an ITIA investigation.
Broville, who held a career-high world singles ranking of 708 in 2023, denied all charges related to the fixing of matches in 2017 and 2018. A hearing was held before independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Charles Hollander on 5 January 2024.
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