Home French tennis player Quentin Folliot handed 20-year ban for match-fixing scheme

French tennis player Quentin Folliot handed 20-year ban for match-fixing scheme

A French tennis player, Quentin Folliot, has been hit with a 20-year suspension from the game. Folliot was found to be a “central figure” in a match-fixing scheme that has seen five others suspended as well.

The news comes from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which has been investigating match-fixing for quite some time. Folliot has also been hit with a $70,000 fine, as well as instructed to repay $44,000 in “corrupt payments.” The 26-year-old was found to be in breach of 27 different areas of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).

His career had seen him already ranked 488 in singles as of 2022. Effectively, his tennis career is now over as long as the ITIA is involved, as he won’t be able to participate until he’s 45.

Despite the suspension being for 20 years, it was taken into consideration the moment he was suspended, which was May 17, 2024. As such, he’ll be allowed to play on May 16, 2044. This is “subject to repayment of outstanding fines.”

His suspension prevents him from playing in the following tennis matches hosted by:

  • ATP
  • ITF
  • WTA
  • Tennis Australia
  • Fédération Française de Tennis
  • Wimbledon
  • USTA
  • “Any national association”

He is also prevented from “coaching at, or attending” any events that involve any ITIA member.

20-year tennis suspension over 27 infractions

During the hearing, Folliot denied 30 different charges relating to the fixing of 11 tennis matches between 2022 and 2024. The presiding and independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO), Amani Khalifa, saw that 27 charges were put through. Folliot was let off from three charges that involved inside information, failure to report a corrupt approach, and contriving the outcome of the match.

The full hearing is uploaded to the ITIA site and has AHO Khalifa is quoted as saying about Folliot’s actions:

“… a vector for a wider criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other players and attempting to embed corruption more deeply into the professional tours.”

Featured image: Quentin Folliot on X, ITIA

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Joel Loynds
Freelance Journalist

Joel Loynd’s obsession with uncovering bad games and even worse hardware so you don’t have to has led him on this path. Since the age of six, he’s been poking at awful games and oddities from his ever-expanding Steam library. He’s been writing about video games since 2008, writing for sites such as WePC and PC Guide, as well as covering gaming for Scan Computers, More recently Joel was Dexerto’s E-Commerce and Deputy Tech Editor, delving deep into the exploding handheld market and covering the weird and wonderful world of the latest tech.