TENNIS COACH WARNED ABOUT MATCH MANIPULATION

 

Swiss Sport Integrity (SSI) has issued a warning, on 7 October 2026, to a tennis coach—who is also a player’s father—for repeatedly attempting to influence match results and has ordered him to cover a portion of the procedural costs.

In April 2026, SSI reporting service received a report regarding a potential attempt to manipulate a competition involving a person close to a player. The accused allegedly attempted on several occasions to persuade an opposing player to influence match results in favour of his son.

SSI examined the reported facts and various documents submitted with the report, such as conversation transcripts and emails, and subsequently opened an investigation into the individual concerned.

In its decision outlining the measures taken, SSI concluded—based on all available information—that there had been multiple attempted violations of the Ethics Statutes. The father had indisputably sent messages to the player in question, offering financial and material incentives in exchange for influencing competition results in his son’s favour.

Arguments claiming that the incident was a misunderstanding or that the statements were not serious were deemed unconvincing. Given the circumstances, SSI is certain that the accused made a serious attempt to induce the player to lose ranking matches against his son, thereby granting the son an unfair advantage.

Consequently, the individual received a warning for repeated attempted violations of Article 2.3.3 of the Ethics Statutes (competition manipulation).

Additionally, he has been ordered to pay a portion of the investigation costs, amounting to CHF 1,500.

We act in match fixing and manipulation of sport cases and further information is available from Dr Lucien Valloni by emailing him at valloni@valloni.ch.