A high-profile cheating scandal in competitive bridge led to multi-body sanctions against two top-ranked players, exposing integrity gaps in the sport.
Key Facts
- Players involved
- Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes (Monaco)
- World ranking at time
- No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in 2015
- FIGB ban duration
- Three years (issued March 19, 2016)
- EBL ban duration
- Five years each (issued July 18, 2016)
- ACBL action
- Permanent expulsion with all titles stripped (July 26, 2016)
- CAS outcome
- EBL ban overturned in January 2018
By the Numbers
Cause → Event → Consequence
Fantoni and Nunes, the world's top-ranked bridge pair, were suspected of using a covert signaling method during competitive play—orienting a played card to indicate the absence of a high honor in the led suit—an allegation tied to matches including the 2013 Bermuda Bowl finals and the 2014 European Bridge Championship.
In September 2015, the pair were publicly accused of cheating. Three separate governing bodies—the Italian Bridge Federation (FIGB), the European Bridge League (EBL), and the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL)—launched independent investigations, resulting in bans and expulsions issued through 2016.
Appeals produced mixed outcomes: the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the EBL ban in 2018, and the FIGB eventually lifted its suspension, leaving only the ACBL expulsion in force. In 2021, Fantoni's inclusion in the Italian national team prompted a boycott by all opposing teams, with Italy winning by default without playing a single hand.