This week, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) suspended an Italian referee on suspicion of match-fixing. According to information released by the ITIA, referee Francesco Totaro, responsible for refereeing Italian matches, ended up receiving a temporary suspension due to an investigation of alleged manipulation of results in games.
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According to the ITIA itself, Francesco Totaro violated section F.3 of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program. Due to this, the Italian referee ended up receiving a temporary suspension so that he can be properly investigated, and called for a hearing, if necessary.
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Therefore, until the present moment the Italian referee is prohibited from exercising any function related to tennis, whether refereeing or attending any event that is related to the national association or the international governing body of tennis, “until the full disciplinary process is concluded” , according to the ITIA.
The following was then stated regarding ITIA: “The ITIA is an independent body established by the International Tennis Government Bodies to promote, encourage, improve and safeguard the integrity of professional tennis throughout the world.”
It is important to say that Francesco's case is not an isolated one, as the ITIA recently issued a series of information about athletes and referees who were suspended from the sport for match-fixing. For example, last week the ITIA reported the suspension of referees Majd Affi, Mohamed Ghassen Snene and Abderahim Gharsallah.
In addition, this year there were still six tennis athletes who were banned from the sport due to match-fixing. They are: Marc Fornell Mestres, Jorge Marse Vidri, Carlos Ortega, Jaime Ortega, Marcos Torralbo and Pedro Bernabe Franco.
Given this, the year 2022 has been one of great exposures about irregularities in tennis, where referees and players are being caught in corruption scandals in the sport. As stated earlier, recently banned referees received lengthy punishments by the ITIA and the responsible authorities.
For example, Majd Affi, was notified with a 20 year ban for match fixing, that is, he will not be able to have any connection with the sport for 20 years. According to the ITIA, the arbitrator violated sections D.2.c and F.2.b, on which the ITIA stated: “All persons must cooperate fully with investigations conducted by the Tennis Integrity Unit, including depositions in hearings if requested.”
Meanwhile, Mohamed Ghassen Snene and Abderahim Gharsallah were notified of violating sections D.1.b and D.1.d. The ITIA noted under section D.1.b that no person shall be “directly or indirectly facilitating any other person to bet on the outcome or any other aspect of any event or any other tennis competition”. Section D.1.d says: “No person shall, directly or indirectly, influence the outcome, or any other aspect, of any event.”
In addition to these cases, there is still the controversy of the Portuguese referee Daniel Zeferino. Although the others involved received “light” punishments for their manipulation of results, Daniel Zeferino ended up being banned from the sport forever.
It is important to say that the ITIA has been liaising with several task force entities to cherish the integrity of the sport, as well as the Egyptian Tennis Federation. In addition, the entity has been working hard to ensure the integrity of the tennis modality, as well as the sports betting sector that may involve the sport.
International Tennis Integrity Agency
The International Tennis Integrity Agency is an entity that acts independently to establish international tennis standards and promotions. ITIA is responsible for inspecting and ensuring that there are no irregularities within the tennis courts. Therefore, ITIA's motto is to cherish the integrity of tennis on a professional and worldwide level.
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