BREAKING: Chair Umpire Gianluca Moscarella Dismissed From ATP For Harassing a Ball Girl

In October 2019 an Italian chair umpire, Gianluca Moscarella was suspended from the ATP Tour for harassing a ball girl. Following his suspension, the governing body of men’s tennis has now dismissed him from the ATP roster for the ‘improper conduct’ on a professional tennis court.

The incident took place in Florence, Italy during a Challenger tournament. The umpire Moscarella was caught red-handed with video proof. The tennis professionals Pedro Sousa and Enrico Dalla Valle were facing each other and Gianluca Moscarella was chair umpiring their match. While he was on duty, he heard addressing the ball girl.

He said, “You are fantastic. Very sexy. Are you ok? It’s hot. Do you feel hot? Physically or emotionally?”  to the ball girl. Also, the umpire witnessed giving a pep talk to Pedro Sousa.

During the toilet break, he asked Sousa to finish the game quickly, he was irritated with the heat and wanted to escape from it. “Stay focused. Come on. 2 minutes and it’s over. The match should be 6-1 6-1 and you had 45 break points. Focus please,” Moscarella addressed Sousa.

Gianluca Moscarella is a gold badge umpire, the highest level of ITF certification for international umpires.

WATCH: Gianluca Moscarella’s improper conduct

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Wimbledon 2019 men’s finals chair umpire debarred from ATP

The chair umpire of Wimbledon 2019 men’s finals, Damian Steiner was expelled from the ATP board. The 44-year-old Argentine chair umpire, Steiner interacted with the Argentinean media and shared his opinion about the match.

He chair umpired one of the best matches in the history of the sport and shared his experiences from there. When Roger Federer had two Wimbledon championship points against Novak Djokovic at 8-7 (40-15), Steiner felt that Roger will beat Novak in the final match.

Steiner shared this with the media and for that, he was fired from his job as he broke the code of conduct. The match officials are not allowed to discuss match events without the authorization of ATP and hence Steiner had to pay the hefty price. 

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