Croatian tennis official banned for 10 years

A Croatian tennis official who worked at the US Open while suspended for betting offences has been banned from the sport for 10 years.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) admitted that an error meant Denis Pitner was able to work as a line judge at Flushing Meadows last summer.

Pitner also successfully applied to work at the Qatar Open in Doha in January despite being banned for 12 months last August.

The announcement of Pitner's 10-year suspension on Tuesday also revealed he applied to work at this summer's Wimbledon Championships.

A statement read: "The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced today that tennis official Denis Pitner, of Croatia, has had his ITF officiating certification suspended for a period of 10 years after being found guilty of offences under the Code of Conduct for Officials."

Pitner will be unable to officiate at grand slam tournaments and events organised or sanctioned by the ATP, WTA and ITF until April 19, 2026.

The Croatian was originally banned after passing on fitness details of a player to a coach and accessing a betting account from which tennis bets were placed.

The suspension of Pitner and a life ban for Kazakh umpire Kirill Parfenov were only revealed following a Guardian investigation earlier this year.

The code of conduct for officials previously did not allow for sanctions to be made public. This was changed in December 2015 and all suspensions will now be announced.