Match-fixing will cost Adam El Mihdawy three and a half years of his tennis career.

American El Mihdawy, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 281, has been banned from the sport for three and a half years after admitting match fixing charges. The charges relate to an event in Mexico in 2016 where he fixed two matches, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced.

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El Mihdawy, who has a career-high ATP ranking of 281 opted to have the case heard by an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) and Professor Richard H. McLaren determined that the player would receive a suspension of four years which, taking into account time served while provisionally suspended, was commuted to a three-and-a-half year ban starting on September 1st, 2022 and ending on February 28th, 2026.

In addition, El Mihdawy was fined $5,000 with an additional suspended fine of $10,000, should there be any further breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).

The breaches of the TACP rules that El Mihdawy was sanctioned for are:

Section D.1.d. of the 2016 TACP: No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any Event.

Section D.1.f. of the 2016 TACP: No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or accept any money, benefit or Consideration with the intention of negatively influencing a Player's best efforts in any Event.

Section D.2.a.i. of the 2016 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 [Now ITIA] as soon as possible

Photo credit: Loriet