The International Tennis Federation on Friday banned and fined Ilie Nastase over racist comments about Serena Williams’s unborn child, inappropriate behaviour towards Anne Keothavong and a member of the press, as well as a foul-mouthed Fed Cup tirade.
The Romanian ex-world No1 was in the ITF dock for his abusive behaviour as Romania’s Fed Cup captain in a tie with Britain in Bucharest in April.
The two-time Grand Slam winner is banned from all ITF competitions until December 2020, excluded from all ITF competitions excluding Grand Slams until December 2018, and fined $10,000.
The controversial 71-year-old was sensationally kicked out of the Fed Cup tie in the Romanian capital on the second day for his irrational conduct.
On the opening day he was overheard making disrespectful remarks about Williams’ unborn child.
“Let’s see what colour it (the baby) has. Chocolate with milk?,” he said in Romanian, remarks then reported widely internationally, including by a British female reporter who he then berated, describing her as “stupid” and “ugly”. He asked pregnant captain Keothavong for her room number, and directed other inappropriate comments towards her.
On day two he was escorted from the Constanta venue after swearing at the umpire as well as the British skipper and a visiting player.
He was heard to call Keothavong and British number one Johanna Konta “f****** bitches”.
Nastase has been charged with:
Part of Nastase’s defence in the charge related to his comments on Williams’ unborn child is that they were “intended as a joke and were misinterpreted” and that “he comes from a nation where racism is not ‘as delicate an issue as it may be in other parts of the world’. There is also no prior evidence of Mr. Nastase being racist; his friendships and partnerships with contemporaries such as Arthur Ashe and Yannick Noah stand as evidence to the contrary”.
Nastase did not deny the remarks he made to Keothavong but claims “he had no intention to emotionally or physically harm the members of the GB team” and that the fact he “made the requests in public, shows that they were intended as jokes to ‘reduce tension surrounding the Tie’ and to display a ‘friendliness’ towards the GB team”.
The commencement of the period of his suspension was deemed to be April 23, 2017, the date on which he was provisionally suspended.
Full details on the sanction can be found here.
