Bulgarian tennis chair umpire banned over betting breach

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has handed a six-month ban to Bulgarian chair umpire Stefan Milanov after he admitted to breaching rules regarding betting.

Milanov was found to have placed multiple bets on tennis, including on one match where he was officiating.

The ITIA ruled two separate offences breached its Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) rules, specifically Section D.1.a of the 2022 TACP that states no covered person shall bet on the outcome or any other aspect of any event or any other tennis competition.

Milanov’s cane into effect on 15 November and will run until 14 May next year. During this six-month period, Milanov will be prohibited from officiating at or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis.

In addition, the ITIA issued Milanov with a fine of $10,000 (£8,158/€9,458), with $5,000 of this to be suspended.

The latest sanction comes after the ITIA last month issued US tennis coaches Bob Bryan and Mardy Fish with fines of $10,000 each for breaching the sport’s betting sponsorship rules.

Bryan and Fish, who were both also handed suspended four-month bans, were found to have promoted a gaming operator on social media. The identity of the operator in question was not disclosed, but it was confirmed that the two coaches co-operated fully with the ITIA investigation and removed the promotional posts immediately.

The suspended bans will not come into force unless there is a further breach during the four-month period, which started on 11 November 2022.

Original Article