Ilie Nastase banned until 2020 for Romania v GB Fed Cup behaviour

Ilie Nastase has been handed a three-year ban from the Fed Cup over his behaviour during the match against Great Britain in Constanta in April.

Romania’s Fed Cup captain will be barred from acting in an official capacity at any International Tennis Federation event until December 2020 after a series of misdemeanours, including making threatening comments to a Press Association journalist.

Nastase has been fined $10,000 and will be denied accreditation to all ITF events until 2018, although the sanction does not include grand slam tournaments nor the respective ATP or WTA Tours, over which the ITF does not have direct jurisdiction.

The 71-year-old was provisionally suspended by the ITF. The former French and US Open champion was accused of racist abuse by Serena Williams when he said about her unborn baby: “Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?”

He also repeatedly asked the GB captain, Anne Keothavong, for her room number during press conferences before the Fed Cup tie.

He then launched foul-mouth abuse at Keothavong, the British No1 Johanna Konta and the referee Andreas Egli, causing Konta’s match to be briefly suspended as she left the court in tears. Nastase also confronted the Press Association Sport tennis correspondent, Eleanor Crooks, on two occasions.

Wimbledon and the French Open subsequently announced they would not be extending their customary invitations to Nastase.

An ITF statement said: “Mr Nastase was found guilty of breaching Fed Cup regulations during the tie in Constanta. Specifically: Mr Nastase made a comment about Serena Williams’s unborn child that was highly inappropriate and racially insensitive.

“Mr Nastase made advances of a sexual nature towards Anne Keothavong, the captain of the Great Britain team.

“Mr Nastase made abusive and threatening comments to a member of the accredited press.

“Mr Nastase made abusive and threatening comments to the match officials and to members of the Great Britain team, refused to leave the court, and deliberately interfered with the opposing team.”

Nastase and the Romanian Tennis Federation each have 21 days to appeal the verdict.

Nastase had denied breaching a series of Articles of the ITF’s Fed Cup Welfare policy, and said his comments about Williams had been “intended as a joke” and were “misinterpreted”.

He denied sexual harassment in the case of the comments he directed towards Keothavong and said his unauthorised entry into the GB Lounge during the event was due to confusion.

He accepted his comments towards a member of the accredited media were “inappropriate”, but had been made “in frustration and at a time of vulnerability” due to “biased and exaggerated media coverage”.

Furthermore, Nastase admitted losing his temper during the match but claimed he was reacting to the unequal treatment of the two teams by the chair umpire.

Officials at the Romanian Tennis Federation were not immediately available for comment.