A tennis umpire from the Dominican Republic, holding a national-level certification, has been suspended and fined by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after being found guilty of 12 violations under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).
Juan Gabriel Castro has been handed a six-year ban and a $6,000 fine for failing to respond to an ITIA charge notice linked to three matches.
He was accused of “manipulating score entries to alter match records and enable corrupt practices.”
Under TACP rules, a “Deemed Sanction” can be imposed on individuals who choose not to engage with the ITIA’s investigation and arbitration process.
Those individuals have 10 business days to appeal the sanction to an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer.
Castro did not respond to the ITIA’s investigation, resulting in the lengthy suspension and fine, and he chose not to appeal the decision.
Castro had been under provisional suspension since November 7 of last year, and this period will count toward his overall ban. As a result, he will be eligible to return on November 6, 2030. Until then, he is barred from officiating or attending any tennis events sanctioned by ITIA members, including the ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon, and the USTA, as well as any national tennis associations.
Corruption continues to be a significant issue in tennis, with officials and players frequently targeted by gamblers seeking to manipulate match outcomes.
Sometimes, this manipulation can involve seemingly minor actions, such as committing a specific number of double faults during a match.
Despite these challenges, ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse stated in an interview with Tennis365 that the organization is making significant progress in addressing the problem, particularly through educational initiatives aimed at those involved in the sport.
“Tennis is good at recognising that it has a vulnerability to corruption,” she said. “It is part of our role to work with the ITF and promote education to ensure that players performing on a professional stage understand that there may be people looking to approach them and seek to influence them and encourage them to make bad decisions.
“It’s our job to work really closely with the betting industry to ensure that we are getting the right information when issues do arise. We want to find out about a problem as soon as possible and look to remove those people from the game.”
Castro is among numerous individuals—both players and officials—currently listed as suspended on the official ITIA website.
These suspensions vary in severity, ranging from provisional bans while awaiting hearings to permanent lifetime bans.
