SPANIARD HANDED LENGTHY SUSPENSION FOR ONLINE BETTING

SPANISH tennis player Samuel Ribeiro Navarrete has been banned for eight months after being found guilty of breaking the sport’s betting rules. The 24-year-old, who reached a career-high world ranking of 723 last year, held an online betting account, through which 28 bets were placed on tennis between January and March 2013. None of the bets related to matches in which he played. Four months of the ban will be suspended on condition that Navarrete, who plays on the Futures and Challenger Tours, commits no further betting offences. He has also been fined £755.