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Two Russian tennis players Aliy Merdeev and Sofia Dmitryev were disqualified for a lifetime from the sport. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) found that Merdeyev was blamed for two episodes and Dmitryeva for six. Dmitrijeva also did not want to cooperate with the investigators.
. ITIA found that both athletes, playing in one pair, influenced the final result of two matches. However, the organization did not reveal in which tournaments this happened.
Both tennis players have most often played in lower level or International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments of different qualities. Russian tennis players have often participated in tournaments in Africa, Turkey and Eastern Europe. Merdejeva has never risen above 928th place in the WTA singles stand, but her partner once ranked 1191st. ITF data show that the two tennis players became companions before the tournament in Kenya in 2019.
