US Davis Cup captains Mardy Fish and Bob Bryan have been reprimanded by The International Tennis Integrity Agency.
Mardy Fish and Bob Bryan have been fined and banned for four months for promoting gambling on Social Media. The posts were made during the US Open. Both Fish and Bryan participated in a DraftKings promotion during the final Grand Slam of the year, which is not allowed under the ITIA rules.
Fish and Bryan have both been issued with a fine of $10,000 each for the rule infraction. According to Fish, neither were aware that the promotion was against the rules. Once this was brought to their attention, they removed the posts on Social Media platforms.
Fish explained in an email to the Associated Press “Bob and I did a DraftKings promo during the U.S. Open that we were unaware we weren’t allowed to do. As soon as we found out, I deleted the posts and cooperated with the ITIA”.
Tennis anti-corruption rules state that anyone who falls under its jurisdiction is not allowed to directly or indirectly facilitate, encourage and or promote betting on Tennis. Both Fish and Bryan were accredited people for the US Davis Cup team 2022, which put them under the jurisdiction.
This meant that neither could promote anything that related to gambling on the sport of Tennis, which the DraftKings promotion did. Both fully cooperated with the investigation as soon as it was launched and admitted that they had unintentionally fallen foul of the rule.
Four Month Ban
Fish and Bryan were also handed a four-month ban, however, these were provisionally set aside. The conditions for the setting aside are that they do not have a further breach of the rules during a four-month probation period. The probation commenced on November 11.
The USTA also commented on the position saying in an email “The USTA is aware of the ITIA’s fines of Mardy Fish and Bob Bryan. Both Mardy and Bob have our full support. As was stated by the ITIA, neither was aware that their actions were in any way a violation of protocols. When they were made aware immediately and fully cooperated with the ITIA throughout the remainder of the process.” The spokesperson also added “Mardy and Bob have given so much of their lives to representing and supporting U.S. tennis. We are thankful for their ongoing commitment to growing the game throughout the country”
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