The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has today confirmed that Chilean tennis player Bárbara Gatica Avilés has been banned from the sport for three years after admitting breaking the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules.

The case was ruled on by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer Raj Parker and the sanction means that Gatica Avilés is prohibited from playing in or attending any tennis event sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis for a period of three years, starting on 9 December 2022 until 8 December 2025. In addition, the player was fined $5,000.

The charges relate to a match in 2016, which Gatica admitted losing deliberately in return for payment.

Baoluo Zheng, a Chinese tennis player has been banned for nine months and fined $5,000 (with $2,000 suspended) after admitting breaching  the sport’s Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules. The 21-year-old player approached an opponent and offered money in return for deliberately losing a match at a tournament in Egypt in October 2022.

The case was dealt with under the 2022 TACP “agreed sanction” framework. This allows for a sanction to be handed down from the ITIA to the player upon admission of guilt, without the need for a hearing. The player’s suspension started on 27 October 2022, the date of the player’s provisional suspension, and will end on 26 July 2023.