ATP Suspends Chair Umpire Gianluca Moscarella For Harassing a Ball Girl

Published 10/02/2019, 4:01 PM EDT

The Italian chair umpire, Gianluca Moscarella has been suspended by the ATP for harassing a ball girl during a Challenger tournament, Firenze Tennis Cup in Florence, Italy.

During the match between Pedro Sousa and Enrico Dalla Valle, the chair umpire, Moscarella was spotted talking to the ball girl and he was heard saying the ball girl is “very sexy” and she is “fantastic.”

After coming across this incident with authentic proof of a video, the governing body of men’s tennis immediately suspended the chair umpire.

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“We are aware of a series of disagreements involving referee Gianluca Moscarella during a match between Pedro Sousa and Enrico Dalla Valle at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Florence last week. Moscarella was immediately kicked out of the tournament when the matter came to light and a full investigation was initiated. Meanwhile, Moscarella has been temporarily suspended for his services as an ATP officer pending the results of the investigation,” the ATP board stated.

Also, in the midst of the match, Moscarella was noticed giving a pep talk to Pedro Sousa. During the toilet break, he asked the Portuguese player, Sousa to wrap up with his game quickly. Moscarella was irritated with the heat and he suggested Sousa to finish the match as he could escape from the heat. Moscarella is a gold badge umpire, the highest level of ITF certification for international umpires.

BREAKING VIDEO! More about the umpire behaviour in that match. Said to ballgirl "“You are fantastic” “Very sexy” “Are you ok? It’s hot. Do you feel hot? Phisically or emotionally?” Is this acceptable addressed to a young girl even if said "as a joke"?https://t.co/IUHEZ5oySa
— Stefano Berlincioni (@Carretero77) September 29, 2019

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The chair umpire, Gianluca Moscarella has been suspended for his ‘improper conduct’ on the court. A few weeks ago, ATP expelled the 44-year-old Argentine chair umpire, Damian Steiner who chair umpired the Wimbledon 2019 men’s finals. He gave interviews to the press without seeking permission from the ATP.

Steiner interacted with the Argentinian media and the ATP gave a statement saying that the match official, Steiner had broken their code of conduct since they are not allowed to discuss match events without the authorization of ATP.

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Last year, chair umpire Mohammed Layhani was suspended from the ATP Tour for two events as he was engaged in giving a pep talk to Nick Kyrgios during the US Open 2018.

A friendly gesture with Kyrgios costs Layhani heavy

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.