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The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed that Chair Umpire, Heriberto Morales Churata from Bolivia, has been banned from the sport for six years for multiple breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules.
Churata has been fined $10,000 and banned for six years after being found to have manipulated scores for betting purposes, by incorrectly entering scores into the handheld device at ITF World Tennis Tour events in both 2021 and 2022.
The suspension was backdated to the start of Churata’s provisional suspension on 8 December 2022 and will continue until 7 December 2028. During this time, Churata is forbidden from umpiring at or attending any tennis event that is authorised by the ITIA.
Generally, the ITIA has been handing out large penalties to not only umpires who are fixing matches, but players too.
Earlier this year, two Algerian tennis players were also banned from tennis by the ITIA for match-fixing offences. Mohamed Hassan was banned for life from the sport and Houria Boukholda was banned for two years (with 18 months suspended).
In addition to the bans, Hassan was fined $12,100 and Boukholda fined $10,000 (with $9,000 suspended).
Last year, the ITIA also banned and fined Bulgarian chair umpire Stefan Milanov, for betting on tennis matches.
