Tennis umpire loses appeal against 7-year ban for false match scores

LONDON (AP) — A tennis umpire from Tunisia who was banned for inputting wrong scores in matches lost his appeal at sport’s highest court, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Thursday.

Abderahim Gharsallah went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to challenge a seven-year ban for manipulating match scores at a lower-level tournament in Tunisia in 2020.

He was among three umpires banned for seven to 20 years for “manipulating scores inputted into their electronic scoring devices, which did not reflect the actual scores on court,” the ITIA said when it imposed the ban in 2022.

The charges in the case related to tennis integrity rules covering gambling and match-fixing.

Gharsallah’s ban until November 2027 prohibits him from officiating at or attending any international tennis event or one organized by a national federation.

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