By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, April 9, 2024
 
Committing corruption will cost Aaron Cortes a 15-year tennis ban.

The Spaniard has been suspended for 15 years after admitting to 35 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced today.

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Cortes, who reached a career-high singles ranking of 955 in September 2017, admitted to 35 breaches of the TACP between 2016 and 2018, including fixing the outcome of matches, accepting money to contrive the outcome of matches, failure to report corrupt approaches, wagering on tennis, and providing money to tournament officials in exchange for a wild card.

The ATP player page for Cortes lists his career earnings at $21,854, which may well have been eclipsed by what he earned committing corruption.

The 29-year-old Cortes "co-operated fully with the ITIA investigation and accepted an agreed sanction, waiving right to a hearing before an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer," the ITIA said in a statement.

Cortes' suspension began on March 27, 2024 and ends at midnight on March 26, 2039.

During the period of ineligibility, Cortes is prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve