Italian tennis umpire receives seven-year ban, fine for match-fixing

LONDON — An Italian tennis umpire was banned for seven years and six months Friday after admitting to charges of match-fixing.

Lorenzo Chiurazzi, a national-level chair umpire and line judge, was also fined $50,000 – $33,500 of which is suspended – in a case investigated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency.

The offenses relate to matches at a tournament in Perugia, Italy, in 2021, the agency said. They include Chiurazzi delaying inputting scores into the scoring device, inputting scores which did not reflect the actual scores on court, failing to co-operate with the corruption investigation and failing to report corrupt approaches.

The ban was backdated to August 12, 2022 – when the charges were made – and runs until Feb. 11, 2030. Chiurazzi will not be able to officiate at or attend any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by any international tennis governing body or national association.