Tennis player has match-fixing ban increased after appealing for reduction

A former tennis player has had a match-fixing suspension increased from just under two years to three years, following the dismissal of his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Tennis integrity authorities initially suspended France’s Samuel Bensoussan, 34, for one year and 11 months, after he was found to have fixed four matches by an anti-corruption hearing. Bensoussan’s sanction was tied to a tennis match-fixing syndicate established by Grigor Sargsyan, which fixed a minimum of 375 matches and incorporated over 1,500 conspirators, according to International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) documents seen by The Athletic.

Bensoussan’s initial sanction started in May 2025, and would have been lifted in April 2027. But following CAS’ dismissal of his appeal, it also agreed with an appeal lodged by the ITIA to increase Bensoussan’s punishment in line with similar match-fixing cases.

Bensoussan, who is now a coach, was initially charged with 18 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Protocol, but only 17 were proven; the ITIA’s appeal centered on proving the 18th. It sought a ban of six years and six months for Bensoussan.

The Frenchman’s appeal centered on his contention that Mick Lescure, another former French tennis player who was banned for life for match-fixing in 2022, had made a false accusation alleging Bensoussan’s involvement in the match-fixing syndicate.

CAS ultimately dismissed Bensoussan’s appeal and partially upheld the ITIA’s appeal, but it did not impose impose the six-year-and-six-month suspension that the ITIA had sought, finding that Bensoussan’s level of culpability, and the impact of his offenses, did not meet the levels required for such a lengthy suspension.

Bensoussan, who reached a singles career high of world No. 405 in 2018, will now serve an extended ban with the same start date as his original one. It will expire in May 2028.

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