Brazilian tennis player banned for life for match-fixing

FILE – Jaoa Sousa of Portugal serves during the men’s singles fourth round match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia on Day Eight of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 3, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Alex Pantling/Getty Images/AFP

MELBOURNE, Australia — Joao Olavo Soares de Souza of Brazil has been banned for life and fined $200,000 by the International Tennis Federation after being found guilty of match-fixing and corruption.

The Tennis Integrity Unit announced the sanctions Saturday following a hearing earlier this month in London. The 31-year-old Brazilian player had been provisionally suspended since March of last year.

An integrity unit investigation revealed that between 2015 and 2019, Souza was involved in match-fixing at ATP Challenger and ITF Futures tournaments in Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Czech Republic.

Anti-corruption hearing officer Richard McLaren found Souza guilty of the charges, and of failing to report corrupt approaches, of failing to cooperate with an investigation — including destroying evidence — and soliciting other players not to use their best efforts.

Souza reached a career-high singles ranking of 69 in April 2015.