the custody of the Russian player lifted

A Russian tennis player was arrested Thursday, June 3 in Paris, in an investigation into suspicion of rigged bets during a doubles match of the 2020 edition of the Roland-Garros tournament, according to police sources and the prosecution. from Paris.

Yana Sizikova, 26, was taken into police custody on Thursday evening after a match in the tournament, as part of the investigation opened on 1er October for “sports corruption” and “organized gang fraud” and entrusted to the central service of races and games (SCCJ) of the judicial police, said the prosecution, confirming information from Parisian. She was released Friday evening without prosecution at this point, the prosecution said.

This survey, unveiled in October by the German newspaper Die welt and daily sports The team, concerns the women’s double that pitted Yana Sizikova and her American partner Madison Brengle against Romanians Andreea Mitu and Patricia Maria Tig, on September 30, during the first round of the 2020 edition of the French international tournament.

The suspicions would fall particularly on the fifth game of the second set, a shutout won by the Romanian duo after two gross double faults by the Russian Sizikova. The Romanians won in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4.

“Abnormally high” amounts of bets

According to a source close to the file interviewed in October, the bets taken on the outcome of this game represent sums “Abnormally high”, of the order of “Several tens of thousands of euros”. The National Gaming Authority (ANJ), which regulates games, horse racing and sports betting in France, had not, however, detected any anomaly in the bets made. “On the French market”, but had received alerts, in particular, “GLMS (Global Lottery Monitoring System) and the Copenhagen group [qui regroupe 33 plates-formes de lutte contre les manipulations sportives dans le monde], according to a source at ANJ.

For its part, the French Tennis Federation (FFT), organizer of Roland-Garros, has confirmed “The arrest of the player, but can not communicate because a judicial investigation is underway. It is up to the competent judicial authorities to respond to the situation ”. The sportswoman’s lawyer, Frédéric Belot, said that “Yana Sizikova did[vait] strictly nothing to be ashamed of and hears[ait] provide all the necessary explanations to the French investigators ”. Me Belot also denounces “Serious accusations” having for origin “The slanderous article by an Italian tennis blogger” against which the player “Intends to quickly initiate legal proceedings for defamation and libelous denunciation”.

Tennis is occasionally struck by suspicions of match-fixing, but which most often concern second- or third-category professional tournaments. Several investigations are underway in France.

On September 27, 2020, two players of Kyrgyz and Uzbek nationalities were thus indicted and placed under judicial supervision in the Val-d’Oise, as part of an investigation opened after a tournament in Gonesse, in March of this year. -the. So far in France, the most resounding investigation was opened by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office in July 2019 for sports corruption, criminal conspiracy and laundering of corruption in an organized gang, with European ramifications.

The French procedure, still ongoing, results from a vast investigation launched in Belgium which, according to the Belgian public prosecutor’s office, affected at least seven countries (Bulgaria, Slovakia, Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United States and Belgium) and concerned “A very structured group from Eastern Europe, which operates from Belgium and specializes in tennis matches”. At the head of this alleged network would appear a certain Grigor S., presented as a Belgian of Armenian origin aged 28 and nicknamed “the Maestro”.

Article reserved for our subscribers Read also Roland-Garros: sports betting under close surveillance

The World with AFP