A tennis umpire was banned from attending the sport for more than a decade for match-fixing.
Following an investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, Slovenian official Marko Ducman took part in match betting and data manipulation to facilitate betting.
He was handed down a 10-year, six-month suspension, the ITIA announced Thursday, for four breaches of the Tennis Anti-Coruption Program after admitting the infractions.
Ducman, who cooperated with the investigation, officiated internationally and was involved in events held by ITF, ATP, and WTP.
The bronze-medal official has been suspended from working any tournaments under those federations as well as the Australian Open, the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, and the French Open, as well as any national association.
Ducman was also fined $75,000 with $56,250 suspended. The suspension is scheduled to end on March 7, 2034.
Integrity issues
A recent study by the Integrity Betting Integrity Association found that suspicious sports betting alerts are down from this time last year, but the highest number of them came from tennis.
Match-fixing is something both the IBIA and ITA are working with sportsbooks to fight against.
Tennis isn’t the only sport dealing with these issues. Three darts players were suspended this month for suspicious betting after the Modus Super Series. Italian soccer player Sandro Tonali, a midfielder for English Premier League’s Newcastle United, is serving a 10-month ban for breaking an Italy soccer federation’s sports betting rules.
