Tennis umpire banned over ball girl comments

PARIS: An umpire who asked a ball girl whether she was ‘hot’ during a men’s tennis tournament in Italy has been banned from officiating pending an investigation, the ATP said Tuesday.

Umpire Gianluca Moscarella addressed the girl during a second-tier ATP men’s tournament in Florence, Italy, last week, during which he was also accused of inappropriate conduct towards one of the players.

The incident occurred during the Challenger Tour match between Pedro Sousa and Enrico Dalla Valle during which the umpire offered encouragement to the former while Dalla Valle was absent from the court momentarily. “We are aware of a number of incidents involving chair umpire Gianluca Moscarella during a match between Pedro Sousa and Enrico Dalla Valle at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Florence last week,” the ATP said in a statement.

“Moscarella was immediately dismissed from the tournament when the matter was brought to light, and a full investigation has been initiated.“Meanwhile, Moscarella has been provisionally suspended from his services as a contracted ATP official pending the results of the investigation.”