Serbian tennis player Stefan Miličević was banned for 24 years for match-fixing

Serbian tennis player Stefan Milicevic has been banned from tennis for 24 years after being accused of match-fixing and recruiting players into an alleged corruption ring, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Thursday. The 29-year-old was suspended until October 2050 and fined $70,000.

Milicevic was accused of fixing six matches, including five in which he competed, and attempting to fix a further six between 2022 and 2024. The ITIA also accused him of recruiting or attempting to recruit more professional players into the match-fixing network during the same period.

The Serb, who competed primarily in lower-level tournaments, reached a career-high singles ranking of 1,338 in 2014. According to ITIA, the alleged network led to other players fixing matches. However, the agency did not release the matches involved or identify the other players accused of involvement.

BAN 24 YEARS AFTER THE PROBE

ITIA said Milicevic did not join its investigation or respond to its findings, despite seven separate attempts to contact him. His lack of cooperation was cited as a factor in the severity of the sentence.

The ban prevents him from playing, training or participating in events organized or sanctioned by the ATP, WTA, Grand Slams, World Tennis or any national tennis association. Milicevic will be banned from sports until he is 53 years old.

FOLLIOT ALSO BANNED FOR 20 YEARS

Milicevic’s suspension follows another major match-fixing case involving French player Quentin Folliot, who was banned for 20 years in December after an investigation identified him as a central figure in a network allegedly working for a match-fixing syndicate.

Folliot, who had a career-high 488 points in 2022, denied the charges relating to 11 games played between 2022 and 2024. However, the hearing upheld 27 of the 30 charges against him, relating to 10 of those games.

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