LONDON: Australia’s Calum Puttergill has been suspended for six months and fined $10,000 after being found guilty of a betting-related corruption offence, the Tennis Integrity Unit announced on Friday.

Puttergill was found to have used two online betting accounts to place 291 bets on tennis between May 2012 and November 2014. None of the bets related to matches in which the 23-year-old played, but under TIU rules, all players are explicitly prohibited from betting on any professional tennis match anywhere in the world.

The final three months of the suspension and $5,000 of the fine are suspended on the condition that Puttergill commits no further violation prior to July 2017. Puttergill has a current doubles ranking of 891 and 1,207 in singles.

His punishment comes on the eve of the Australian Open, which starts on Monday amid frustration over growing corruption in the sport in Australia.

Australia’s Nick Lindahl was banned for seven years and fined $35,000 for corruption on Tuesday as tennis authorities step up their fight against match-fixing.

In a separate incident, police recently revealed an 18-year-old, reported to be Australian Open boys champion Oliver Anderson, had been charged with match-fixing at the second-tier Traralgon Challenger event last October and would appear in court in March.—AFP