Max Wenders once observed "tennis is an expensive sport."
Wenders' admission to multiple match-fixing charges comes at a costly price.
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Dutch coach Wenders, who coached Sofia Kenin (and reportedly dated the former Australian Open champion) and Demi Schuurs, has been banned for 12 years after admitting multiple match-fixing charges, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced today.
The 26-year-old Wenders also "admitted destroying evidence requested by the ITIA and failing to report a corrupt approach."
Wenders, who served as a hitting partner for Anett Kontaveit and Jelena Ostapenko, must also pay a fine of $12,000.
The case was originally heard by Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Professor Richard McLaren in April 2021.
Publication of the sanction was delayed following submissions from Wenders’ legal team, however AHO McLaren has now lifted that prohibition. The sanction means that Wenders is prohibited from playing in, coaching at or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis for a period of 12 years from the date of the decision (28 April 2021).
In an interview with Times of India writer K Kumaraswamy last year, Wenders said he got into coaching partly because he couldn't afford to pursue his dreams of playing pro tennis.
"Tennis is an expensive sport," Wenders said. "At 12 or 13, I knew that I am not going to make it because you need a lot of money to become a professional player and I didn't have support."
The breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) rules that Wenders has admitted to and sanctioned for are:
Section D1.d of the 2019 TACP: No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive, attempt to contrive, agree to contrive, or conspire to contrive the outcome, or any other aspect, of any Event.”
Section D.1.e of the 2018 TACP: “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, facilitate any Player to not use his or her best efforts in any Event.”
Section D.2.b.ii of the 2019 TACP: “In the event any Player is approached by any person who offers or provides any type of money, benefit or Consideration to a Player to (i) influence the outcome or any other aspect of any Event, or (ii) provide Inside Information, it shall be the Player’s obligation to report such incident to the TIU as soon as possible.”
Section F.2.b of the 2019 TACP: “All Covered Persons must cooperate fully with investigations conducted by the TIU including giving evidence at hearings, if requested. After a Covered Person receives a TIU request for an initial interview or otherwise becomes aware of any TIU investigation involving the Covered Person, the Covered Person shall (i) preserve and not tamper with, damage, disable, destroy or otherwise alter any evidence (including any personal devices described in Section F.2.c.i.) or other information related to any Corruption Offense and (ii) not solicit, facilitate or advise any other person to fail to preserve, tamper with, damage, disable, destroy or otherwise alter any evidence or other information related to any Corruption Offense.”
Photo credit: Max Wenders Instagram