Bulgarian umpire Pavel Atanasov has received a permanent ban from tennis after withdrawing his appeal for betting violations and charges of corruption, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced April 19.

Tennis umpire Pavel Atanasov fined $10,000, admitted to 21 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program

Atanasov, a national-level official, was also given a $10,000 fine for 21 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).

“In withdrawing from proceedings, Atanasov effectively admitted liability for numerous TACP offenses between 2019 and 2023,” the ITIA said, “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.”

During the investigation, Atanasov said he was paid less than $100 each day for umpiring at International Tennis Federation events. 

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

ITIA suspended Brazilian umpire Antonio Casa, Slovenian umpire Marko Ducman

Last Monday, Brazilian umpire Antonio Casa was suspended for seven years, six months after admitting to seven breaches of the TACP.

The national-level official was also fined $8,000 and given a suspended penalty of $17,001 for breaching the TACP, the ITIA added.

Casa will be barred from officiating or attending any event authorized or sanctioned by ITIA members until midnight on Sept. 27, 2031.

In November 2023, the ITIA also suspended Slovenian umpire Marko Ducman for 10 years and six months for betting on matches and manipulating data. The official was also fined $75,000, with $56,250 suspended.

Ducman, an international-level official, officiated at ITF, ATP, and WTA tournaments. The umpire had been provisionally banned after admitting breaches of the TACP.

The bronze-level official admitted four breaches, including wagering on matches and manipulating data from matches in which he was officiating to facilitate betting. His suspension will end on March 7, 2034.