LONDON — Serbian player Stefan Milicevic has been handed a 24-year suspension from tennis until October 2050 — one of the most severe punishments imposed by anti-corruption investigators outside a lifetime ban — for match-fixing. The 29-year-old, who also received a £53,000 fine, will be 53 when the ban expires and is prohibited from taking part in the sport in any capacity.
Milicevic, who reached a career-high world ranking of 1,338th in 2014 and played 22 professional tournaments on the lower-tier ITF Tour between 2013 and 2023, was charged with fixing six matches, including five in which he was competing, and attempting to fix a further six matches between 2022 and 2024. The International Tennis Integrity Authority (ITIA) said Milicevic was also charged with recruiting or attempting to recruit multiple professional players "as part of a corrupt network," noting that players recruited by Milicevic have also been accused of fixing matches.
The ITIA said the severity of the sanction was partly due to a lack of cooperation, stating Milicevic "did not engage" in the process despite seven separate attempts to contact him. While suspended, he is not allowed to play in, coach at, or attend any events organized or sanctioned by World Tennis, WTA, ATP, the Grand Slams, or any national association.
The case follows a 20-year ban imposed in December on French player Quentin Folliot after the ITIA found he was a central figure in a network of players operating on behalf of a match-fixing syndicate. Folliot, who reached a career-high ranking of 488 in 2022, denied charges relating to 11 matches between 2022 and 2024, including eight which he played in, but 27 of the 30 charges against him relating to 10 of the 11 matches were upheld at a hearing.