Tennis umpire hit with six-year suspension after | Sports News

Tennis chair umpire Juan Gabriel Castro has been suspended for six years and slapped with a £4,655 ($6,000) fine after allegedly facilitating corruption.

His punishment was dished out by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), who confirmed the sanctions in a statement. Castro, from the Dominican Republic, is said to have committed 12 breaches of the tennis anti-corruption program (TACP).

The national-level official was provisionally suspended in early November and will not be able to officiate any ITIA events until November 6, 2030. He did not respond to the ITIA’s notice of charge.

The ITIA confirmed in their statement that the notice of charge “related to three matches in which the official was alleged to have manipulated scoring entry to contrive the scorecard and facilitate corruption.”

And the organisation added: “Under the 2025 TACP, a ‘deemed sanction’ may be issued to individuals who elect not to respond to the ITIA’s investigations and arbitration process.

“Individuals have 10 business days to appeal the imposition of a deemed sanction to an independent anti-corruption hearing officer. Castro did not appeal. Time served under provisional suspension is credited against the period of ineligibility.

“During the period of ineligibility, Castro is prohibited from officiating at or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Federation Francaise de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association.”

The ITIA have dished out a string of sanctions in recent seasons, with Bulgarian tennis official Pavel Atanasov receiving a lifetime ban a year ago following 21 breaches of the TACP. At the time, the ITIA explained: “Atanasov, a national-level official, initially contested the charges before withdrawing their appeal ahead of a hearing.

“In withdrawing from proceedings, Atanasov effectively admitted liability for numerous TACP offences between 2019 and 2023, including the manipulation of scoring data of matches for betting purposes, facilitating wagering, conspiring to commit corruption offences, wagering on tennis matches, and failure to report corrupt approaches.”

The organization also hit Venezuelan tennis official Armando Belardi with a lifetime ban last May as they confirmed: “The breaches included facilitation of wagering, contriving the outcome of matches, and soliciting money or benefit to negatively influence a player’s best efforts.”

And last April, tennis player Aaron Cortes was slapped with a 15-year ban after admitting to 35 breaches of the TACP. The Spaniard was said to have fixed matches and paid for a tournament wildcard.