Italian tennis official Antonio Casa suspended for 7.5 years by ITIA

The independent body governing the integrity of tennis across the globe, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), is currently tasked with monitoring suspicious activities and investigating any potential breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP). As such, the governing body regularly implements sanctions whenever TACP breaches are uncovered. Penalties include temporary and permanent bans, as well as fines.

On Monday, the ITIA revealed it has taken action against Antonio Casa, an Italian tennis official. Casa, has served as a line judge for the ATP Challenger-level competitions. He has also officiated at ITF $25K and $15K events. In a statement, the tennis governing body revealed that Casa breached the TACP rules on several occasions.

The Italian tennis official admitted to a total of seven TACP breaches, with the list including "attempting to commit a Corruption Offense, manipulation of match scoring for betting purposes, and facilitation of betting," as announced by the ITIA.

In light of the breaches, Casa was suspended from the sport for seven years and six months. Although the announcement of the penalty came on Monday, the ITIA revealed that the sanction against the Italian tennis official started on March 28, 2024. Considering the penalty, the official will be suspended through midnight on September 27, 2031.

During the 7.5 years of suspension, the tennis official is prohibited from officiating at any of the events that are sanctioned under the ITIA's members, including the WTA, ITF, ATP, Wimbledon and more. Additionally, Casa is also not permitted to attend any such events.

Besides the suspension, the ITIA imposed a monetary penalty against Casa. The Agency fined him $25,001 of which $17,001 is suspended. According to the ITIA, the Italian tennis official fully cooperated with its investigation and waived his right to a hearing before an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer.

Back in March, the ITIA imposed a fine and suspension against Marko Stojanovic, a Croatian tennis official. The sanction came after the watchdog uncovered breaches of the TACP rules. Overall, Stojanovic admitted to 15 breaches of the TACP rules, including "manipulating data from matches in which they were an official to facilitate betting." As a result, he was sanctioned with five years and six months suspension from the sport along with a $25,000 fine of which $18,750 was suspended.

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