Bulgarian official suspended for 16 years by ITIA on corruption charges

PARIS (Agencies): Bulgarian tennis official Stefan Milanov has been suspended for 16 years for 17 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP), the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Monday. The national-level official was also fined $75,000 by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Amani Khalifa for charges that included facilitation of betting and delaying or manipulating entry of scoring data from an event. Milanov, who had previously been suspended for six months in December 2022 for betting offences, did not respond to the charges. “In failing to respond to the ITIA charges – relating to five matches that they umpired in 2021 – Milanov effectively admitted liability for all charges and acceded to sanctions,” the ITIA said in a statement. “The suspension will run … until midnight on 27 December 2039.” “During the suspension, Milanov is prohibited from officiating at or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA … or any national association,” the ITIA added.