The independent body seeking to safeguard the integrity of professional tennis, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), announced it decided to provisionally suspend Italian chair umpire, Francesco Totaro.
Italian Chair Umpire Provisionally Suspended
The announcement came Thursday but according to ITIA, it is in effect as of June 22, 2022. The provisional suspension comes over allegations related to match-fixing, which the Agency is now going to investigate further. However, such a suspension means that Totaro is not allowed to attend any events that are sanctioned or authorized by any international tennis governing body.
“The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) today confirms that Italian chair umpire Francesco Totaro has been provisionally suspended from the sport, pending the full consideration of match-fixing charges.”
International Tennis Integrity Agency
According to ITIA, the provisional suspension is valid until the investigation process is completed. The tennis integrity watchdog pointed out that the suspension was granted under section F.3 of the 2022 Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.
ITIA Continues to Safeguard the Integrity of Tennis
The ITIA’s recent announcement comes after only last week, three Tunisian chair umpires were banned over match-fixing. The watchdog said it banned Majd Affi, a green badge chair umpire for 20 years. The ban comes after the ITIA found the umpire guilty of 12 charges related to events between 2017 and 2020.
On the other hand, two other umpires were also banned. Abderahim Gharsallah, a white badge chair umpire, as well as Mohamed Ghassen Snene, a green badge chair umpire, were banned by the ITIA for seven years each. Their ban comes after the integrity watchdog found them guilty of four charges that are related to an event from 2020 in Tunisia. At the time of the announcement of the bans, the ITIA said the charges “related to the umpires manipulating scores inputted into their electronic scoring devices, which did not reflect the actual scores on court.”
Before that, in June, the ITIA provisionally suspended the 22-year-old Brazilian tennis player, Gilbert Soares Klier Junior, under the 2022 Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP). Earlier in June, again under the TADP, ITIA provisionally suspended 25-year-old Chilean tennis player, Bárbara Gatica Avilés.