Wednesday, October 23

Lawyer for Russian tennis participant suspected of match-fixing says she has been cleared

A Russian tennis participant arrested on suspicion of match-fixing in the course of the 2021 French Open has been cleared of prices by the Paris prosecutor’s workplace, her lawyer stated Thursday, including that she would compete at this yr’s clay-court Grand Slam.

Frédéric Bélot stated in a message to The Associated Press that the case involving Yana Sizikova was closed final month “considering that criminal proceedings could not be initiated, as the facts of which Ms. Sizikova was accused could not be established.”

The Paris prosecutor’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Sizikova, who’s ranked fiftieth in doubles, was arrested and briefly positioned in custody after competing in a French Open doubles match two years in the past. She denied the allegations.

The prosecutor’s workplace stated on 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 workplace stated the probe centered on suspicions about one match at Roland Garros, which was performed in September and October 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The case was opened by a French police unit specializing in betting fraud and match-fixing. It beforehand labored with Belgian authorities investigating suspect matches on the decrease ranges {of professional} tennis.

“Mrs. Sizikova, who has always maintained her innocence, is therefore definitively cleared of all suspicion,” Bélot stated.

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