Ukrainian tennis player Stanislav Poplavskyy banned for life

Stanislav Poplavskyy (First Sportz)

According to the Associated Press on Friday, Stanislav Poplavskyy of the Ukraine has been banned for life by the Tennis Integrity Unit for participating in match-fixing activities. Poplavskyy is the second player this past week who received a lengthy suspension by the TIU. Enrique Lopez Perez of Spain was also suspended eight years for his participation in match-fixing during the 2017 tennis season.

Poplavskyy was accused of match-fixing during the tennis seasons from 2015 to 2019. He was also fined $10,000 for his actions. In addition to match-fixing, Poplavskyy was also accused of courtsiding, which is transmitting “live scoring data from a match to a third party for betting purposes.”

If you have not heard of Poplavskyy, you would not be the only one. His career-high ranking was 440th in the world, back in July of 2012, three years before he was accused of match-fixing. Poplavskyy is 29 years of age, and never played on the regular ATP Tour. He played on the Futures Tour, and Challenges Tour since 2009.

In the 2016 season alone, Poplavskyy retired from eight International Tennis Federation matches. These included two semifinal matches in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. In a tournament in Baku that year, Poplavskyy reached the semifinals before losing to Victor Baluda of Russia, 7-5, 3-6, 4-1. Then in Shymkent that same year, Poplavskyy lost 6-3, 3-2 in the semifinals to Maxim Dubarenco of Belarus.

The TIU also suspended British player George Kennedy for seven months for gambling-related charges. Kennedy is accused of betting on tennis matches in accounts in his own name, and for another person.

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