France: Olympic handball players accused of match-fixing
Caty Richard lawyer of Montpellier’s Tunisian player Wissem Hmam speaks to the press in Nanterre, France on Oct. 1, 2012. A prosecutor is expected to give details of suspected match-fixing and illegal betting in handball on Monday, a day after police detained several players including one of the biggest stars of the game.
France's Olympic and European handball champion Nikola Karabatic was arrested along with nine other French handball players on suspicion of match fixing, according to euronews.
Two players were from Paris Saint-German, and eight, including Karabatic, play for Monpellier.
Remy Levy, president of the Monpellier team, told the Associated Press last week that he, "vigorously protests" any notion that club management participated in match fixing, though he did not rule out the possibility that his players might be involved.
"All the team's players are of course aware of the rules on sports betting and on the strict ban on participating in any way," he said. "Conclusions will be drawn by the club based on the result."
President of the French Handball Federation Joel Delplanque told BFMTV he wanted "once and for all, to "find out what happened — and who in fact was responsible for these anomalies we've now learned about."
Joel Abati, a former Montpellier handballer, said on French television, "We are in a world of sport where anything can happen, you can be influenced."
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