Bulgarian chair umpire Stefan Milanov caught betting by the ITIA, handed suspension
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International Tennis Integrity Agency
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the organization responsible for safeguarding the integrity of professional tennis worldwide, has officially announced that Stefan Milanov, a Bulgarian chair umpire has been banned for six months. The agency also fined him $10,000 (with $5,000 suspended) after he admitted to placing multiple bets on tennis, including one match in which Milanov was officiating, breaching the sport’s Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules.
This is one of the latest controversies to rock the tennis world after multiple players tested positive for using banned substances this year. Kamil Majchrzak, a Polish professional tennis player was suspended by the ITIA on Friday. Earlier, Simona Halep, the Romanian star was provisionally suspended from competition after testing positive for a banned substance during a drugs test at the US Open.
According to the agency, the umpire’s suspension started on 15 November 2022 and will end on 14 May 2023. During this time, Milanov is prohibited from officiating at or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis.
A Bulgarian official has been sanctioned for betting on tennis matches:https://t.co/bnecrWnOvG
— International Tennis Integrity Agency (@itia_tennis) December 8, 2022
Stefen Milanov admitted to two separate offenses of Section D.1.a of the 2022 TACP: “No Covered Person shall directly or indirectly, Wager on the outcome or any other aspect of any Event or any other tennis competition.
Recent controversies that have rocked the tennis world
In the last few years, the tennis world has faced multiple controversies related to betting, substance abuse, match-fixing, etc. In 2020, the Tennis Integrity Unit fined and suspended two Bulgarian brothers, both tennis players, Karen and Yuri Khachatryan. They were found guilty of fixing multiple matches in order to get the money prize.
Earlier this year, Spanish player Fernando Verdasco was handed a suspension for two months as he himself admitted to violating the drug policy. However, the original sentence was for 2 years but when the ITIA and WADA found that it was not a deliberate violation and the bodies reduced his sentence.
The controversies have not spared some of the star players too. Romanian, former world No 1, Simona Halep was ‘provisionally suspended’ after she returned a positive test for the banned substance Roxadustat, during a drugs test at the US Open. Earlier in 2016, five-time singles Grand Slam winner, Russia star Maria Sharapova failed a drug test at the Australian Open that year, testing positive for meldonium, a substance that had been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
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