A bronze-badge tennis official, Marko Ducman, has received a 10-year ban and a substantial £60,000 ($75,000) fine after admitting to four violations of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program. Additionally, he is prohibited from attending any professional tennis events. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced these penalties on Thursday, stating that Ducman cooperated with the investigation and waived his right to a hearing. His infractions included betting on tennis matches and manipulating match data to facilitate betting. Ducman accepted the agreed sanction, and his suspension will conclude on March 7, 2034. Throughout this period, he is forbidden from attending or officiating at any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the ATP, ITF, WTA, Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open, or any national association.
Furthermore, Ducman will be required to pay £45,000 of the fine if he does not re-offend. This development follows the recent sanctions imposed on five tennis players for violations of the Anti-Corruption Programme, which was connected to a concluded criminal case involving a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium.
Additionally, the ITIA announced sanctions against five players, including Alberto Rojas Maldonado and Christopher Diaz Figueroa, who both received lifetime bans after failing to contest the charges against them. Maldonado, who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 992 in 2015, was found to have committed 92 breaches of the TACP. Diaz Figueroa, a former world No. 326, has also been banned from the sport for life.
The ITIA emphasized that the sanctions were imposed by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Professor Richard McLaren when the players failed to contest the charges within the time limit set by the TACP. All five players’ sanctions commenced on September 30, 2023. This recent series of sanctions exemplifies the resolute approach taken to combat corruption within professional tennis.