Romanian Fed Cup captain Ilie Nastase has been banned by the International Tennis Federation until 2021 after his shambolic behaviour at the Fed Cup tie between Romania and Great Britain in April.
His ban means that he will barred from any official roles with the ITF until 2021, which includes not being able to coach Romania at Fed Cup until then. The ban also includes Nastase not being accredited at any ITF events until 2019 as well as being fined $10,000 for his behaviour. He has received this punishment as a result of his behaviour in April when he swore at the umpire during the match, he was also caught insulting British number one Johanna Konta and Britain’s Fed Cup captain Anne Keothavong, which left Konta in tears. Furthermore he made derogatory comments towards Serena Williams’ unborn child.
The controversial Romanian also called members of the press ‘Stupid’ and also created a scene outside the stadium where he wanted to come back in. This led to Romanian number one Simona Halep taking charge of the rest of the tie. As a result of his actions he has met his appropriate punishments. It is good to see the ITF aren’t tolerating any despicable behaviour and show that they have guidelines that must be met by everyone.
However his ban does not include grand slam tournaments or the respective ATP or WTA tours as they lie outside the power of the ITF. So it looks like we may no hear the last of this controversial figure in the coming years leading to the end of his ban.
