Portuguese umpire handed life ban for match fixing

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has announcing that Portuguese umpire Daniel Zeferino has received a life ban from the sport after being found guilty of match fixing.

The decision means the level-two white badge official will be prohibited from officiating tennis events under the authority, or sanctioned by, any of the sport’s national bodies or International Federations.

The charges levied against Zeferino related to how he manipulated scores when they were inputted into the electronic scoring device at a 2020 International Tennis Federation M15 event to facilitate wins for people who placed bets on those points.

This competition is a tier below the elite Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour.

Zeferino admitted to his behaviour during an interview with the ITIA and he refused to dispute the charge Ian Mill QC, the independent anti-corruption hearing officer (AHO) considered.

It was decided that Zeferino should suffer a life suspension due to the several abuses of his position, therefore breaching section D.1.b and D.1.d of the 2020 Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme.

Section D.1.b refers to the prohibited facilitation of gambling in tennis while section D.1.d bans any "covered person" from influencing result "or any other aspect of any event" directly or indirectly.

Daniel Zeferino was officiating at the International Tennis Federation M15 event, a tier below the elite Association of Tennis Professionals Challenger Tour ©ITF

Last week tennis was rocked by six Spanish players receiving criminal convictions linked to match fixing.

Marc Fornell Mestres, Jorge Marse Vidri, Carlos Ortega, Jaime Ortega, Marcos Torralbo and Pedro Bernabe Franco all pleaded guilty to corruption charges in Spain and have been punished with a two-year prison suspension and a fine.

The ITIA, who could suspend the players following the end of the criminal cases, banned Fornell for 22 years and six months.

Marse, Carlos Otega, Tarraibo and Bernabe followed with a sanction of 15 years.

Jaime Ortega has been handed a ban of seven years and six months.

Fines on the players ranged from $15,000 (£12,000/€14,000) to $250,000 (£202,000/€237,000).

Jonny Gray, the ITIA chief executive, called it "one of the most significant infiltrations of tennis by organised crime" following the conclusion of the five-year process.

A wider organised crime case is currently ongoing in Spain.