The Lawn Tennis Association, Great Britain's governing body for tennis, says it will push for further action against Romania's Fed Cup captain Ilie Nastase, who was ejected from the tie against Great Britain for "serious misconduct."
Nastase launched into a tirade at officials against British captain Anne Keothavong and British player Johanna Konta, who complained about the partisan crowd during Konta's match against Sorana Cirstea in Constanta. It follows other allegations of inappropriate behavior by the Romanian captain during the days leading up to the tie.
Nastase was heard on court repeatedly swearing at player and captain, and was sent off by officials. That appeared to rile up the crowd further. Konta dropped the next game to go down 3-1, and appeared to be in tears as play was halted and she left the court to recover herself.
The ITF said, "Mr Nastase was also removed from the grounds due to his serious misconduct. His accreditation was removed and he will play no further part in the tie."
But the LTA wants more done, issuing a statement saying, "We will be submitting an official complaint to the ITF after this tie and expect a full investigation into the actions by the Romanian captain."
Konta described herself as shocked by what had transpired, saying to the BBC, "I am not one to cry on court. It was slightly embarrassing but it affected me more than I would have liked.
"I know that Fed Cups can be quite emotional and can sometimes take an unexpected turn but it wasn't something I was prepared for.
"Obviously, it left me slightly unnerved but the best I could do was to make it as much about the tennis as possible."
Cirstea appeared to agree with the decision to remove Nastase from the court for his behavior, but objected to the match being stopped.
"Why did we stop? Only because Johanna cried? I have never cried on the court because someone told me something," Cirstea was quoted as saying by the BBC. "OK, at 2-1 you take our captain out, that was the right decision, but then at 3-1 I break you, and now you cry. I am not saying it was fake, but it was not logical.”
She added: "Next time I'm in trouble I will cry, maybe I can go off the court. As Romanians we get double-insulted because of our nation, but it's OK. We are tough. Tougher than British people, apparently."
Cirstea was also quoted by British press saying, "And then when she comes back on court she says, ‘I'm sorry,’ so she knew she exaggerated. And Anne the same, she said ‘I'm sorry.’
"You don't do this, you stay and play,” Cirstea said. “And the public was OK. They didn't do anything. It was a bit too much. And now they say they feel threatened.
“We are in Romania, we treated you guys so nice,” she continued. “I don't feel it's right that you put all this on us because we're a lower country than England."
Nastase had already produced controversy before the tie began with his unprompted remarks about Serena Williams's baby, and accounts of suggestive behavior toward Keothavong. The ITF also said it would be looking into "previous comments made by Mr. Nastase during the week."
Before the day's play began, Nastase confronted British press about that incident, in particular a female journalist from the Press Association, who said Nastase called her "stupid" and asked why his comments about Serena Williams were racist.