Six Moroccan tennis players are banned for match-fixing

Six Moroccan tennis players are banned for match-fixing. Ayoub Chakrouni has been banned for life. While 5 others have received fines of $5000 and are banned from 9 to 11 years from the game.

The 6 players banned by the ITIA are

Amine Ahouda, 24y, is banned for 11 years and fined $5,000 USD.

Anas Chakrouni, 22 y, is banned for 10 years and fined $5,000 USD.

Ayoub Chakrouni, 30 y,  is banned for life and fined $10,000 USD.

Mohamed Zakaria Khalil, 22 y, is banned for 9 years and fined $5,000 USD.

Soufiane El Mesbahi, 20 y, is banned for 9 years and fined $5,000 USD.

Yassir Kilani, 21 y, is banned for 9 years and fined $5,000 USD.

The highest ranked player of the 6 is Ahouda who was ranked 668th. Ayoub Chakrouni achieved a career-high singles ranking of 1,098 in September 2016. Ahouda, Ayoub Chakrouni, El Mesbahi and Kilani were featured on the Morocccan team in David Cup from 2014 to 2019.

The sanctions come after an investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which concluded the men had all violated the rules of its anti-corruption program. The six players have 20 days to lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

This ban follow a similar ban for Egyptian player Youssef Hossam (21 y) in 2020. The Egyptian was banned for life by the ITIA after multiple match-fixing and other corruption offenses between 2015 and 2019.