A sanction of this length effectively ends a tennis career. Milićević, 29, cannot play in, coach at, or attend any event run by the ATP, WTA, the Grand Slams, World Tennis, or any national association until 8 October 2050. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) also imposed a $70,000 fine.
The investigation covered the 2022 to 2024 period. According to the agency, Milićević fixed six matches, five of them while competing himself, and attempted to fix a further six. He was also found to have recruited or attempted to recruit multiple professional players into a corrupt network, with a number of those players then going on to fix matches themselves.
No response from the player
The 24-year figure is what the ITIA calls a “deemed sanction,” which kicks in when a charged player ignores the process entirely. The agency issued a Notice of Major Offense on 24 September 2026 and says it tried seven separate times, through multiple channels, to get a response from Milićević. None came, and the suspension took effect on 9 October 2026.
That procedural route is also why the number landed at 24 years rather than at a lifetime ban, which the ITIA has reserved for other recent match-fixing cases. Karen Khachatryan was handed a lifetime ban and a $250,000 fine; Yannick Thivant received a lifetime ban and a $75,000 fine after admitting to fixing 22 matches. Among fixed-length suspensions, Milićević’s 24 years is heavier than the 22 years and six months given to Marc Fornell Mestres and the 20 years given to Quentin Folliot.
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A low-ranked player, a networked case
Milićević never came close to the main tour. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 1,338, reached in August 2014. His career was spent in tennis’s lower-tier events, which have long been the ITIA’s primary battleground against corruption: players at that level earn little, matches draw little scrutiny, and the gambling markets around them are liquid enough to be worth manipulating.
What separates this case from the typical low-ranked fixer is the recruitment angle. The ITIA has not identified the other players drawn in or specified which matches were manipulated. The agency published the ruling on 15 October 2026.
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