ITIA Bans Tennis Official for Life in Anti-Corruption Crackdown
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has handed down a lifetime ban to Bulgarian tennis official Pavel Atanasov for a multitude of corruption offences.
Atanasov, a national-level official, was found culpable of 21 ITIA Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) violations. The offences, which Atanasov effectively conceded to, spanned from 2019 to 2023. They encompassed a range of corrupt activities, including manipulating match scores for sports betting purposes, facilitating wagering and betting on tennis, and conspiring to commit corruption offences. Atanasov was also charged with failing to report instances of attempted bribery.
The Bulgarian official, who has previously officiated at ITF $15K and $25K tournaments in his home country, is now permanently barred from the sport. The ban prohibits him from officiating at or attending any tennis event authorised by ITIA members or national associations.
In addition to the ban, Atanasov will also pay $10,000 in fines.
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Atanasov’s ban is just the latest in a series of actions taken by the ITIA to combat corruption within tennis. Last month, Spanish player Aaron Cortes, 29, received a 15-year ban from tennis for match-fixing and accepting bribes to influence match outcomes. Cortes, whose career peaked at a world ranking of 955, will be unable to compete or attend tournaments until 2039.
Also last month, the ITIA suspended Italian official Manuel Guion for five years and six months. His ban, effective until August 2029, follows a similar pattern of manipulating tennis match data for betting purposes.
Give a boost to your next sports bet
Give a boost to your next sports betSimilarly, in March, the ITIA suspended Croatian official Marko Stojanovic for five years and six months. This was in relation to breaches of the TACP, including manipulating match data to facilitate betting.
