ITF bans 2 umpires for life for betting-related offenses

LONDON (AP) The International Tennis Federation says Uzbekistan umpires Sherzod Hasanov and Arkhip Molotyagin have been banned for life after being found guilty of betting-related offenses.

The ITF said Wednesday that Hasanov and Molotyagin were found guilty of using a mobile phone to communicate scores of matches which they were officiating to a third party at an ITF Futures event in Tiberias, Israel in September 2015.

It also said the pair delayed putting scores into their mobile electronic devices to allow a third party to place bets on matches in which they were officiating, and manipulated scores by using ''fictitious deuce games'' while officiating at other ITF Futures events over a seven-month period.

The ITF's Futures tour is the federation's lowest competition level and has been identified as a major area of concern for corruption in the sport.