An independent Table Tennis England Appeals Panel has partially allowed appeals and adjusted the suspensions accordingly imposed on four members of Table Tennis England by an independent Disciplinary Committee in March 2025 in respect of various betting integrity related offences.

The Appeals Panel ruled that simply placing bets on a fixed outcome does not make an individual a party to match-fixing.

Therefore the members’ suspensions are confirmed as:

• Luke Savill: Five years (from the date of provisional suspension), expiring on 8 May, 2026
• Darius Knight: Four years, expiring on 7 March, 2029
• Kazeem Adeleke: Two years, expiring on 7 March, 2027
• Joseph Langham-Ferreira: Two years, expiring on 7 March, 2027

Read the first-instance decision of the Disciplinary Committee here.

Then the Decision on Appeal from the Appeals Panel in full here.

The Appeals Panel and the Disciplinary Committee are both bodies independent from TTE.

Members of Table Tennis England are reminded that, as part of our Anti-Corruption Regulations, they are not permitted to bet on table tennis.   

How did we get here?

Inquiries began after Table Tennis England received a report from the Gambling Commission’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) about a large amount of unusual betting activity around matches held in Ukraine in 2020, linked to British betting accounts.

The proceedings were also 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.

Table Tennis England collaborated with experts from the SBIU, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and specialist consultants in a lengthy investigation which found that the four Table Tennis England members had a case to answer for a breach of Table Tennis England’s Rules.

Proven findings

The final findings of the independent disciplinary process are:

Luke Savill

• Bet on table tennis with Adam Green as well as with the other Respondents.
• Used Inside Information to bet on table tennis matches based on the success rate of his bets.
• Passed on inside information on matches that would be fixed to others, including Adam Green and Darius Knight to use for betting.
• Failed to disclose Adam Green’s activities to parties impacted by the betting.
• Failed to engage or cooperate with the TTE investigation or the disciplinary process.

Darius Knight

• Shared Inside Information, including details of matches that would be fixed, with his network of bettors.
• Bet using his own account on the outcomes of table tennis matches.
• Failed to cooperate with the investigation and deliberately concealed information from the TTE (and the Disciplinary Committee) that may not have been favourable to his defence.

Joseph Langham-Ferreira

• Bet using his own account on the outcomes of table tennis matches.

Kazeem Adeleke

• Bet on table tennis and was a party to the bets placed using his account.

Which Regulations were broken?

The TTE Anti-Corruption Regulations set out that “Participation in, support for, or promotion of, any form of betting related to a competition including betting with another person on the result, progress, outcome, conduct or any other aspect of such competition” is a breach of the Anti-Corruption Regulations.

The Regulations state that this “applies to any form of betting related to a competition in which the person is participating, that is otherwise taking place in the participant’s sport or that is taking place in another sport at a competition in which the person is participating.”

There are also sections covering Manipulation of Results and Misuse of Inside Information which specifically reference betting.

Under the Table Tennis England Disciplinary Regulations, “taking any part in betting on table tennis” is a disciplinary breach.

A player who is Sanctioned must not undertake any table tennis activity held under the auspices of Table Tennis England at any level (club, league, county or national), including the below:

• Playing in competition or practising
• Sit on (or in) any committee at club, league, county, region or national levels nor help with the organisation of any event
• Coach or assist in coaching at any level
• Umpire any matches or act as a referee at any level
• Spectate at any event / club / training session

Kevin Carpenter, ITTF Head of Integrity and lead of the operationally independent ITTF Integrity Unit, said: “This has been a truly international conspiracy, engaging both sports disciplinary and the criminal law in multiple jurisdictions.

“Upholding the integrity of table tennis globally can only be achieved by collaboration between the ITTF Integrity Unit, table tennis stakeholders, most importantly national member associations, and outside agencies.

“This case has been proof of how those different bodies can work together effectively to tackle one of the preeminent threats to the sport in betting-related corruption, whilst giving the Respondents a full opportunity to put their case forward through an independent disciplinary process, and we commend Table Tennis England for their commitment and contribution to keeping table tennis fair, safe and clean.”