Gianluca Moscarella has made headlines for the wrong reasons. The Italian umpire has been suspended by the ATP following his questionable conduct at a tournament in Florence. The umpire was filmed giving a pep talk to a player during a match at the Firenze Tennis cup. That was not his only transgression as he is also accused of harassing a ball girl at the tournament.
Caught on video harassing a ballgirl
In a video that did rounds on social media, Moscarella was heard giving a pep talk to seventh seed player Pedro Sousa. The player was playing against Italian wild card Enrico Dalla Valle. During a toilet break, the umpire was heard talking to Pedro and told him to up his game. He complained about the heat and urged the player to win the match so that he could get out of the heat because he is an old man. Another video soon emerged that showed Moscarella talking to a ball girl at the tournament. The match official is heard telling the girl she is “very sexy” and that she is “fantastic.” The umpire also referred to the heat, asking the girl if she was hot “physically” or “emotionally.”
Immediately kicked out of the tournament
The ATP has condemned the umpire’s behavior, saying that it had suspended him immediately. In a statement, the tennis body said, “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.”
Moscarella will join a list of other officials who have been disciplined for improper conduct. This year, umpire Damian Steiner was fired for giving interviews to the press without the supervision of the ATP. The umpire officiated the Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic which was the longest in the history of the tournament. The Argentinian gave some interviews in his home country about the match without the permission of the tennis governing body. The ATP fired him saying that he had broken their code of conduct since match officials should not discuss match events and players without authorization.
