Minimal prison sentences for Marc Fornell and the tennis match-fixing plot

The 14 accused by Operation Bitures, this Wednesday at the National Court.

In the first row and from the left, Carlos Ortega López, Miquel Calonge, Albert Creixell and Marc Fornell. FERNANDO VILLAR FERNANDO VILLAR (EFE)

Jordi Marsé-Vidri, a professional tennis player who reached position 562 in the

of the ATP, disputes a doubles match with Marco Neubau.

It is March 19, 2018 and, under the poster of the ITF Futures F7 Reus tournament, they face the also Spanish Pol Fernández and Xavier Gabarro in the first round.

The scoreboard is, however, adverse for the Marsé-Neubau duo, who ended up defeated after a second set (2-6 and 5-7) that seemed to be disputed.

But, as the Prosecutor's Office says, part of the outcome was written in advance.

“Marsé rigged it”, points out the public ministry, which this Wednesday has obtained a two-year prison sentence for this tennis player and for 13 other people involved in Operation Bitures, the plot dedicated to the bribery of players to manipulate the results of the encounters and get rich through previous bets.

The National Court has hosted this morning the brief trial against the 14 defendants: among whom were, in addition to Marsé-Vidri, other tennis players such as Marc Fornell (who ranked 236th in the ATP ranking in 2007);

Marcos Torralbo and Pedro Bernabé —players who have always been far from the front line of this sport—.

The defendants have reached an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office.

The public ministry, which initially requested an eight-year prison sentence for all of them, has agreed to lower its request and finally leave it at only two years in prison after the defendants admitted the facts.

In addition, the court has agreed that, if they lack a record, they can avoid their entry into prison.

"Are you satisfied with the sentence they have requested for you?"

Judge Maria Riera, president of the court, asked each of the defendants.

— Yes — Marc Fornell responded first from the bench, followed by the rest immediately.

—Do you recognize yourself as the author of the acts of which you are accused?

-Yes.

Those involved have thus recognized the forceful account of the Prosecutor's Office on Operation Bitures.

The Civil Guard dismantled this plot at the end of 2018, when it pointed out the existence of a "criminal organization" that rigged tournament matches in the Futures and Challenger categories, while coordinating "simultaneous and massive" bets.

According to the facts contained in the indictment, which the 14 people who sat on the bench that Wednesday have admitted, the criminal network had tennis players who "altered the normal course of the game, letting themselves lose matches, sets, games or points , as illegally agreed, to ensure the outcome of the bets”.

Some athletes were part of the "organization" itself.

Others were "corrupted" with the "payment of an amount of money", details the public ministry, which points to the tennis player Marc Fornell as one of the ringleaders.

This 40-year-old from Barcelona, ​​with the help of his "account managers", began to fix matches in which he participated or in which others in whom he could "influence" played.

Although, after realizing then that he was being watched, he changed his strategy.

He stopped disrupting his meetings, but associated with a group of Armenians, led by Armen Melkumyan and Artur Ajaryan, for whom he began to act as an intermediary.

According to the Civil Guard, he contacted the athletes who allowed themselves to be bought and, later, the Armenians went to the tournaments to "check and make sure" that the corrupt complied with what was "previously agreed",

The Prosecutor's Office, which reflects in its reports the movement of tens of thousands of euros, describes Fornell as a "key player".

"He takes advantage of his extensive knowledge in the world of tennis, motivated by his long sports career, and has the ability to interact with other tennis players, building trust," the accusation explains.

The athlete also used other collaborators to achieve his goals, such as Enric Xapelli —who was the one who colluded with Marsé-Vidri to fix the ITF Futures F7 Reus match, in which the investigators did not implicate his teammate, Marco Neubau —.

"Fornell also has great knowledge of the betting sector, and he makes them using other users so that his participation is not detected and thus not be sanctioned."

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