Four members of Table Tennis England SUSPENDED

Four members of Table Tennis England have been suspended over alleged match fixing and unusual betting activity, the Gambling Commission has announced

Players Luke Savill, Darius Knight, Joseph Langham-Ferreira and Kazeem Adeleke have all been prevented from playing following a ‘complex international investigation’.

The players have all appeared before the Disciplinary Committee for breaches of the TTE Anti-Corruption Regulations relating to betting on table tennis matches.

British players Knight, Savill and Langham-Ferreira were suspended alongside Nigerian star Adeleke.

Savill has been banned from the sport by Table Tennis England indefinitely and must not play for a minimum of six years, Knight has been sanctioned for six years, Adeleke for five years and Langham-Ferreira for three years.

Players under sanction may not take part in any table tennis activity organised by Table Tennis England, sit on any club committee, coach at any level or umpire or spectate at any event.

The Gambling Commission said it began an investigation after receiving reports of ‘unusual and suspicious betting activity from licensed operators on matches held in Ukraine in 2020’ that were linked to British betting accounts.

The Commission conducted a probe in collaboration with stakeholders including Table Tennis England and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

The proceedings were linked to a high-profile criminal case in Australia involving former leading Australian player Adam Green, who admitted placing more than 1,100 bets on fixed matches in Ukraine. That case was concluded in September 2023.

It was alleged that Green would pass on the information about the fixed games on to Savill in the UK, who Table Tennis England said was ‘a party to fixing table tennis matches played in Ukraine in 2020’ as well as other matches from 2018, and failed to disclose his knowledge.

Knight was a reserve Team GB athlete for the London 2012 Olympic Games and represented England at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

He was also accused by Table Tennis England of being a party to fixing table tennis matches played in Ukraine in 2020, being a party to betting on table tennis matches between 2018 and 2020, failing to disclose to TTE his knowledge of betting on fixed matches and failing to fully cooperate with the TTE enquiry.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Dehli, he came away with the silver medal for England.

He has won four Men’s Doubles and three Mixed Doubles titles at the Senior National Championships.

Luke Savill represented England at Junior level, winning the Slovakian Junior Open in 2017. He also won the under-21s national title in March 2020.

Langham-Ferreira has competed at several national championships and has played regularly in the Senior British League, Premier Division, most recently for Drumchapel Glasgow and, before that, Brighton.

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