Bulgarian Tennis Umpire Receives Lifetime Ban for Breaching Anti-Corruption Programme

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has announced that Bulgarian tennis official Pavel Atanasov has been banned from the sport for life due to multiple breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP).

Atanasov, a national-level official, initially contested the charges before withdrawing their appeal ahead of a hearing before an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO). The case was ruled on by AHO Richard Young, who also issued Atanasov a $10,000 fine. The ban is effective from 4 March 2024.

In withdrawing from proceedings, Atanasov effectively admitted liability for numerous TACP offenses between 2019 and 2023, including the manipulation of scoring data of matches for betting purposes, facilitating wagering, conspiring to commit corruption offenses, wagering on tennis matches and failure to report corrupt approaches.

Atanasov, who has officiated at ITF $15K and $25K tournaments in Bulgaria, is permanently prohibited from officiating at or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association.

The ITIA is an independent body established by its tennis members to promote, encourage, enhance and safeguard the integrity of professional tennis worldwide.