French player, who was central to match-fixing syndicate, suspended for 20 years
One of the key figures in a match-fixing syndicate has become the sixth player to be sanctioned by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).
Frenchman Quentin Folliot was first provisionally suspended in May 2024 with the ruling prohibiting him from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association.
The player, who reached a career-high world singles ranking of 488 in August 2022, has now had his suspension confirmed as he has been banned for 20 years, fined $70,000, and ordered to repay corrupt payments totalling more than $44,000.
An ITIA press release stated the 26-year-old “was discovered through an ITIA investigation to be a central figure in a network of players operating on behalf of a match-fixing syndicate. Folliot is the sixth player to be sanctioned as a result of the investigation, following the cases of Jaimee Floyd-Angele, Paul Valsecchi, Luc Fomba, Lucas Bouquet and Enzo Rimoli.”
He faced 30 charges – ranging from contriving the outcome of matches, receiving money to not give best efforts for betting purposes, offering money to other players to fix matches, provision of inside information, conspiracy to corrupt, failure to co-operate with an ITIA investigation, and destruction of evidence – which related to 11 tennis matches between 2022 and 2024, eight of which he was involved in.
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Folliot denied all 30 charges, but independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Amani Khalifa upheld 27 of the charges – relating to 10 of the 11 matches – during a remote hearing in October.
The charges (provision of inside information, failure to report a corrupt approach, and contriving the outcome of a match) relating to a doubles match in January 2024 were dismissed.
AHO Khalifa characterised Folliot as “a vector for a wider criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other players and attempting to embed corruption more deeply into the professional tours” in his written decision.
The Frenchman will be banned until 16 May 2044 as time served under provisional suspension will be credited against the player’s period of ineligibility.
Folliot, who reached a high of 531 in the doubles, earned only $60,047 in career prize money with last official match taking place in March 2024 when he reached the semi-finals of singles and quarter-finals of the doubles ITF-organised M25 Maceio in Brazil.