The TSJM orders the suspension of Enrique López

The Fourth Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has ordered as a precautionary measure to the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation the lifting of the suspension of the federative license of the player Enrique López, who was sanctioned by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) with eight years without being able to play for having allegedly fixed matches in three different 2017 tournaments.

The TIU reported, last Tuesday, that The sanction would take effect on December 1 and implies that you are prohibited from playing or attending any tennis tournament organized by the tennis estates for eight years. In a statement sent to EFE this Thursday by the tennis player's lawyers, it is indicated that, by virtue of an “order dated December 3, 2020, the Fourth Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has ordered as a precautionary measure to the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation the lifting of the suspension of the federative license of the professional tennis player Enrique López Pérez “.

And, with that, is added, the “Player recovers all his rights as a federated professional tennis player until the merits of the matter are resolved.” In said statement, in addition, it is stated that the tennis player was already “investigated last year in the framework of a criminal case for match fixing before the Court of Instruction 5 of the National High Court” and that “said case was dismissed and filed in firm “then “neither the Prosecutor nor the private prosecution considered that there was sufficient evidence for the indictment of Enrique López.”

“Despite being innocent in the Spanish courts, The Tennis Integrity Unit decided on December 1, 2020 to make its own reinterpretation of the evidence in the Spanish judicial file, and he considered in direct contradiction with the Judge of the National Court that Enrique López Pérez would be guilty of fixing, for which he imposed a sanction of eight years. This action, contrary to the criteria of the courts of Justice of a State, is being contested both in the Spanish judicial sphere and in the Administrative Court of Sports by the legal defense of Enrique López Pérez, since it is a violation of the fundamental rights of an athlete and an unprecedented excess of the disciplinary powers of the sports authorities “, it concludes.