ITIA Press Release, May 10, 2022
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed that Portuguese tennis chair umpire Daniel Zeferino has been banned for life from the sport after being found guilty of match fixing charges. The charges related to Mr Zeferino manipulating scores inputted into his electronic scoring device at an ITF M15 event in 2020, facilitating guaranteed wins by bettors on those points.
Mr Zeferino, who was a level two white badge official, admitted to his conduct in an interview with the ITIA and did not contest the charges which were considered by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Ian Mill QC.
Having considered the seriousness of Zeferino’s multiple abuses of his position as a chair umpire, AHO Mill QC ruled that Zeferino should be removed from the sport permanently. This means he will no longer be able to officiate at any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by any international tennis governing body or national association.
The breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules Mr Zeferino was found guilty of were:
Section D.1.b of the 2020 TACP: “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, 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 facilitate a person to wager shall include, but not be limited to: display of live tennis betting odds on a Covered Person’s website; repeated transmissions of the contemporaneous results of any aspect of any Event without the consent of any Governing Body (“Courtsiding”); writing articles for a tennis betting publication or website; conducting personal appearances for, or otherwise participating in any event run by, a tennis betting company or any other company or entity directly affiliated with a tennis betting company; promoting a tennis betting company to the general public through posts on social media; and appearing in commercial advertisements that encourage others to bet on tennis.”
Section D.1.d of the 2020 TACP: “No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive the outcome, or any other aspect, of any Event.”
The ITIA is an independent body established by the International Governing Bodies of Tennis to promote, encourage, enhance and safeguard the integrity of professional tennis worldwide.
