The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has announced a temporary suspension to Italian referee Francesco Totaro on the grounds of match-fixing allegations.
The suspension will take effect on 22 June and ITIA will begin a full investigation of the allegations with Totaro.
Totaro, a national-level referee, is prohibited from attending or participating in tennis events approved or approved by the International Tennis Federation or National Associations until complete disciplinary action is completed.
The suspension was granted under Section F.3 of the 2022 Tennis Anti-Corruption Program Regulations. This allows ITIA to impose a temporary suspension at any time before a notice of serious breach is issued or before an official hearing.
Totaro’s provisional suspension came after the ITIA issued a long-term ban this week against the three Tunisian chairman umpires convicted of match-fixing.
The green badge chair referee, Majd Affi, was banned for 20 years after being convicted of 12 charges related to the events of 2017-2020.
Mohamed Ghassen Snene, also a green badge chair umpire, and Abderahim Gharsallah, a white badge chair umpire, were banned for seven years after being convicted of four charges related to an incident in Tunisia in 2020.
The ITIA said the fees associated with manipulating the scores entered by the referee into the electronic scoring device do not reflect the actual scores in court.
