Sports News | Lawyer for Russian Tennis Player Suspected of Match-fixing Says She Has Been Cleared
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. A Russian tennis player arrested on suspicion of match-fixing during the 2021 French Open has been cleared of charges by the Paris prosecutor's office, her lawyer said Thursday, adding that she would compete at this year's clay-court Grand Slam.
Paris, May 25 (AP) A Russian tennis player arrested on suspicion of match-fixing during the 2021 French Open has been cleared of charges by the Paris prosecutor's office, her lawyer said Thursday, adding that she would compete at this year's clay-court Grand Slam.
Frédéric Bélot said in a message to The Associated Press that the case involving Yana Sizikova was closed last month "considering that criminal proceedings could not be initiated, as the facts of which Ms. Sizikova was accused could not be established."
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The Paris prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sizikova, who is ranked 50th in doubles, was arrested and briefly placed in custody after competing in a French Open doubles match two years ago. She denied the allegations.
The prosecutor's office said at the time that Sizikova was arrested for “sports bribery and organized fraud for acts likely to have been committed in September 2020.”
The prosecutor's office said the probe centered on suspicions about one match at Roland Garros, which was played in September and October 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The case was opened by a French police unit specializing in betting fraud and match-fixing. It previously worked with Belgian authorities investigating suspect matches at the lower levels of professional tennis.
“Mrs. Sizikova, who has always maintained her innocence, is therefore definitively cleared of all suspicion,” Bélot said. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)