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Match-fixers sometimes target chair umpires to help pull off corruption.
One umpire's failure to report a corrupt approach will cost him three years of his career.
Venus: I'll Be In New York
Belarussian chair umpire Alexey Izotov has been suspended from officiating pro tennis for three years and fined $10,000 after being found guilty of failing to report a corrupt approach to the Tennis Integrity Unit and of soliciting other officials to manipulate match scores.
A TIU investigation concluded the 22-year-old Izotov failed to report a corrupt approach he received in November 2019 while he was officiating as a chair umpire at a W25 ITF Women’s event in Minsk, Belarus.
The approach offered him payment in return for delaying the inputting of scores to his PDA device, to facilitate other parties to bet on matches.
In addition to failing to report the approach, he subsequently made a similar offer to other officials to delay inputting of scores.
That delay is crucial as it allows gamblers to bet on points that have already been played.
From July 16th, 2020, Izotov is prohibited from officiating or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis for a period of three years.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy