Weird and creepy stuff in Florence. Italian umpire Gianluca Moscarella hit the headlines for encouraging Pedro Sousa during a match in the local challenger. That attracted criticism all over the world because obviously an umpire is not supposed to help a player.
The umpire and the ballgirl
Unfortunately, during the same match, something much worse happened. In fact, it was reported on Twitter that the umpire had some completely inappropriate comments on the ballgirl. According to the video, Moscarella said to a young ballgirl something like (translated) “You are fantastic” “Very sexy” “Are you ok? It’s hot. Do you feel hot? Physically or emotionally?”
The reaction on social media
Needless to say, social media reacted strongly at this video with some people asking the ban for life. The footage is so incredible that some people wondered if the umpire was drunk or he has completely gone mad.
We are still waiting for the official statement from the ATP, but even if they could “ignore” the pep talk that was given to the player, the Association should not get over to the following video.