Chilean Tennis Coach Banned for Record-Breaking Match-Fixing Violations

The Global Tennis Integrity Organization (GTIO) has permanently barred Chilean tennis coach and ex-athlete Sebastian Rivera. He was determined to have committed a record-breaking number of match-fixing violations.

The case was presided over by Jane Mulcahy QC, who declared Rivera guilty of 64 offenses. This is the most significant number of offenses ever discovered against a competitor by the GTIO or its predecessor, the Tennis Integrity Unit.

Rivera was discovered to have broken several regulations of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP). These included rules prohibiting the encouragement or assistance of others to wager on matches, and rules prohibiting the manipulation of match results.

Rivera was also found to have received financial compensation in exchange for negatively affecting his performance.

During 2017 and 2018, the TACP guidelines prohibited any individual associated with the sport from providing financial incentives or other advantages to athletes with the intention of influencing them to perform poorly.

The ITIA stated that Rivera, who had previously been a professional tennis player and achieved a peak ranking of 705 before transitioning to coaching, did not approach the disciplinary procedure with the necessary seriousness.

Rivera was permanently barred from tennis and assessed a financial penalty of $250,000 (approximately £222,851/€254,843).

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