Three Thai Tennis Umpires Banned For Life For Betting And Match-Fixing

Three Thai tennis umpires have been banned for life after being found guilty of match-fixing and betting offenses at low-level tournaments, according to a release from the Tennis Integrity Unit, an anti-corruption group.

Apisit Promchai, Anucha Tongplew, and Chitchai Srililai have admitted to not only betting on 2017 ITF Futures matches that they were officiating, but also manipulating the scores they inputted to the official scoring system “for betting-related purposes and personal profit.” The three umpires have been barred from attending or officiating any professional tennis tournament.

Here are all the rules set out by the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program that the umpires violated:

Section D.1.a: “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, wager or attempt to wager on the outcome or any other aspect of any Event or any other tennis competition.”

Section D.1.b: “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or facilitate any other person to wager on the outcome or any other aspect of any Event or any other tennis competition. For the avoidance of doubt, to solicit or facilitate to wager shall include, but not be limited to: display of live tennis betting odds on a Covered Person website; writing articles for a tennis betting publication or website; conducting personal appearances for a tennis betting company; and appearing in commercials encouraging others to bet on tennis.”

Section D.1.d: “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any Event.”