Stefan Milićević

Introduction

Stefan Milićević, a 29-year-old Serbian tennis player who peaked at world No. 1,338 in men’s singles, has been suspended from tennis for 24 years — one of the most severe punishments the sport’s integrity body has imposed outside a lifetime ban — and fined $70,000 for match-fixing. The International Tennis Integrity Agency said Milićević was found to have fixed six matches and attempted to fix six more, and that its deemed sanction took effect on October 9, 2026, keeping him out of the sport until October 2050.

Background Information

Milićević competed at the lowest rungs of the professional game: he reached a career-high singles ranking of 1,338 in August 2014, played 22 professional tournaments on the lower-tier ITF tour between 2013 and 2023, and appeared in 11 professional matches, all at the third tier of the tour. The NY Post reported he played college tennis at the University of Minnesota and later coached at DePaul University in Chicago.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Sanctioned after an integrity investigation. The ITIA’s findings are the ruling of tennis’ independent anti-corruption body under its own sanctioning rules, not a criminal conviction: Milićević did not respond to the charges or the formal notice, the deemed sanction followed the agency’s guidelines, and no public statement from him appears in the fetched record.

The ITIA charged Milićević with fixing six matches — including five in which he was himself competing — and attempting to fix a further six between 2022 and 2024. He was also charged with recruiting or attempting to recruit multiple professional players “as part of a corrupt network” during the same period, conduct the agency said resulted in a number of other players fixing matches. The ITIA has not named the matches or the other players involved.

An ITIA investigation opened in 2026, and the agency said Milićević did not engage with or co-operate with it despite seven separate attempts across multiple channels. On September 24, 2026, upon completion of the investigation, he was issued a Notice of Major Offense; the player did not respond, and under the rules and ITIA Sanctioning Guidelines the deemed sanction — 24 years’ ineligibility and a $70,000 fine — came into effect on October 9, 2026. While suspended, he may not play in, coach at, or attend any event organized or sanctioned by World Tennis, the WTA, the ATP, the Grand Slams or any national association.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The sanction drew attention as one of the harshest in the sport’s anti-corruption record: the BBC described it as among the most severe punishments imposed outside a lifetime ban. It lands in a stretch of multi-decade ITIA sanctions targeting fixing networks — France’s Quentin Folliot received a 20-year ban in December after being identified as a central figure in a network of players fixing matches, and China’s Pang Renlong drew a 12-year ban for 22 offenses across five months. The agency’s finding that Milićević recruited other players — some of whom are themselves accused of fixing — places him in the small group of match-fixers treated as organizers rather than merely participants.

Current Status

The ban took effect on October 9, 2026 and runs through October 8, 2050, when Milićević will be 53 years old. The sanction is a deemed sanction issued after an unanswered notice under the ITIA’s rules — no independent tribunal ruling, no public response from the player, and no appeal appears in the fetched record. The $70,000 fine is attached to the same decision, and the suspension covers every level of the professional game from ITF tour events to the Grand Slams.

Impact on Their Career/Life

For a player who spent a decade on the sport’s fringe — 22 tournaments, 11 matches, a ranking that never cracked four figures beyond 1,338 — the sanction is functionally the end of any tennis life: barred from playing, coaching, or even attending sanctioned events until 2050. The case extends the ITIA’s recent pattern of treating recruitment of other players as the gravest corruption offense, and it makes Milićević the owner of one of the longest bans ever given to a player ranked outside the top 1,000.

Sources

• ITIA, “Serbian tennis player Stefan Milićević suspended for 24 years,” Oct 15, 2026 — source
• BBC Sport, “Serb tennis player Stefan Milicevic banned for 24 years for match-fixing,” Oct 15, 2026 — source
• NY Post, “Serbian tennis player hit with 24-year ban in match-fixing scandal,” Oct 15, 2026 — source