Argentine tennis player Nicolas Kicker has been suspended for six years and fined US $25,000 by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) after being found guilty of match-fixing and other offences.
Argentine tennis player Nicolas Kicker has been suspended for six years and fined US $25,000 by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) after being found guilty of match-fixing and other offences.
The 25-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of 78 in June 2017, was found guilty of attempting to fix two ATP Challenger matches - a tournament in Padova, Italy, in June 2015, and in Barranquilla, Colombia, three months later.
He was thrown out of the Roland Garros last month when anti-corruption hearing officer ruled that the 25-year-old from Argentina arranged the results of two Challenger tour matches in 2015.
Kicker, who ranked No. 100 prior to the suspension, apparently also failed to co-operate with the TIU's investigation.
“Argentinian tennis player Nicolas Kicker has been suspended for six years and fined $25,000 for committing match-fixing offences under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program," the TIU said in a statement on Tuesday.
TIU also added that Kicker can reduce his ban to three years if he "commits no further breaches."
Kicker's sentence has been backdated to May, when he was found guilty by the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, and half of his sentence is suspended, meaning the Argentine can return to the sport in May 2021.
Kicker, who has won 10 singles titles on the ITF Tour, idolized Roger Federer while growing up. He began playing tennis at an age of four. His father, is a tennis teacher, mother, Mariana Villaverde, is an economics teacher and has three siblings- Priscilla, Victoria and Lucia.
Kicker, who prefers playing on the hard court and likes US Open the most out of the Grand Slams, broke into top-100 for the first time was last year.
The young Argentine is not allowed to compete in - or even attend - any sanctioned tennis events while he is banned.
(With Reuters input)
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