Jonathan Kanar suspended and fined after admitting to corruption offences

25-year old French player ranked 1494 ITF singles is suspended for 4 years and 6 months

and fined $2,000

(January 10, 2020) Tennis Integrity Unit: French tennis player Jonathan Kanar has been suspended for four years and six months and fined $2,000 after admitting to match-fixing and non-reporting offences.

 

Following an investigation carried out by the Tennis Integrity Unit, Mr Kanar admitted to contriving the outcome of a match he played at the ITF Futures F1 tournament in Harare, Zimbabwe in June 2017, in return for a corrupt payment of €1,500. 

 

Independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer Charles Hollander QC considered the case and imposed the sanction. The period of suspension is backdated to apply from the 11 July 2019 and means that Mr Kanar is prohibited from competing in, or attending, any sanctioned event organised or recognised by the governing bodies of the sport for the duration of the ban.

 

In addition to the match-fixing charge, the player also admitted to failing to report a corrupt approach he received in relation to the Harare match.

 

The 25 year-year old is currently ranked 1494 in ITF singles and has a career-best of 427 in January 2019.

 

The breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program he has been convicted of are:

 

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

 

Section D.2.a.1: ”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.”

 

The Tennis Integrity Unit is an initiative of the Grand Slam Board, the International Tennis Federation, the ATP and the WTA, who are jointly committed to a zero tolerance approach to corruption in tennis.