Alija Merdeeva, Sofia Dmitrieva banned for life over match-fixing scandals

The Associated Press (h/t ESPN) reported on Wednesday that Russian tennis players Alija Merdeeva and Sofia Dmitrieva have been banned from competitions for life due to their involvement in match-fixing when they played separately and together in doubles action.

Merdeeva was found guilty of two counts of match-fixing, while Dmitrieva was found guilty of six counts and failing to cooperate with an investigation into the matter. 

The International Tennis Integrity Agency, which distributed the punishments, didn't say when or where the match-fixing incidents occurred. 

According to Russian News Agency TASS, Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpishchev says Merdeeva and Dmitrieva received their bans merely because they didn't cooperate. 

"The international tennis organization is fighting very tough against fixed matches and they received such punishment because they refused to cooperate with people, who are investigating such matches," Tarpishchev said. "This problem in tennis is global and exists not only in our tennis. Italians, Argentinians and many others who were disqualified - we are not the first and not the last." 

In December, the AP (h/t ESPN) explained that Ukrainian player Stanislav Poplavskyy was issued a lifetime ban and fined $10,000 for match-fixing.

Merdeeva's highest world ranking was No. 928, while Dmitrieva's was No. 1,191.