The short version
- Stefan Milicevic received a 24-year suspension from all tennis activities, one of the longest bans imposed by anti-corruption investigators.
- The International Tennis Integrity Authority charged him with fixing six matches and attempting to fix six more while recruiting other players.
- Milicevic’s lack of cooperation during the investigation contributed to the severity of the penalty, which includes a substantial financial fine.
A Serbian professional tennis player has been handed a twenty-four-year suspension from the sport, marking one of the most severe penalties issued by anti-corruption officials in recent years. Stefan Milicevic, who competed on the lower tiers of the international circuit, is barred from participating in any tennis-related activities until October 2050. The sanction effectively ends his career before it could truly begin at a higher level, as he will be fifty-three years old when the ban expires.
The International Tennis Integrity Authority (ITIA) imposed the penalty after finding Milicevic responsible for fixing six matches in which he was an active competitor. Additionally, he faced charges for attempting to manipulate the outcomes of six further matches between 2022 and 2024. Beyond his own on-court conduct, investigators determined that Milicevic played a central role in expanding a corrupt network by recruiting or attempting to recruit multiple other professional players.
Those recruited by Milicevic have also faced accusations from the ITIA regarding match-fixing activities. This suggests that his actions were not isolated incidents but part of a broader effort to compromise the integrity of tournaments on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Tour. The scope of the investigation highlights the challenges regulators face in policing lower-tier events, where scrutiny may be less intense than at major Grand Slam or ATP/WTA level competitions.
Milicevic’s career trajectory provides context for his involvement in these activities. He played in twenty-two professional tournaments between 2013 and 2023, reaching a career-high world ranking of 1,338th in 2014. Competing on the fringes of the professional ladder often involves significant financial pressure and limited prize money, factors that can make players vulnerable to corruption schemes. However, the ITIA emphasized that his lack of cooperation was a primary driver behind the harshness of the sentence.
Throughout the investigation, the independent organization made seven separate attempts to contact Milicevic regarding the allegations. The authority stated that he did not engage with the process at any point. This refusal to participate likely prevented him from mitigating the severity of the charges or demonstrating remorse, which are often considered in sentencing decisions within sports disciplinary frameworks.
In addition to the lengthy suspension, Milicevic was fined £53,000. During the period of his ban, he is prohibited from playing, coaching, or attending any events organized or sanctioned by World Tennis, the WTA, the ATP, the Grand Slams, or any national tennis association. The comprehensive nature of the exclusion ensures that he cannot maintain any formal connection to the sport’s governing bodies or competitive structures.
This case follows a similar high-profile sanction involving French player Quentin Folliot, who received a twenty-year ban in December after being identified as a central figure in a match-fixing syndicate. Folliot, who reached a career-high ranking of 488th in 2022, denied charges related to eleven matches played between 2022 and 2024. However, the hearing upheld twenty-seven of the thirty charges against him, relating to ten of those matches.
The parallel cases underscore a coordinated effort by tennis authorities to dismantle networks that threaten the sport’s credibility. While both players operated on the lower rungs of the professional game, their actions had implications for the integrity of the entire ecosystem. The ITIA’s willingness to impose decades-long bans signals a zero-tolerance approach to corruption, regardless of a player’s ranking or status within the tour.
As the tennis world continues to grapple with issues of integrity at all levels, these sanctions serve as a stark warning to competitors and officials alike. The long-term impact on Milicevic is total exclusion from the sport he once pursued professionally. For fans and stakeholders, the enforcement of such strict penalties aims to restore confidence in the fairness of competition, even in tournaments that receive less global attention.
Future investigations may reveal further connections between these individuals and other actors within the tennis community. The ITIA has indicated that players recruited by Milicevic are also under scrutiny, suggesting that the fallout from this network could extend beyond his personal ban. The coming months will likely see additional disciplinary actions as authorities continue to untangle the web of corruption.
Sources behind this briefing
Go to the original reporting
- BBC Sport↗Serb player banned until 2050 for tennis match-fixing
