Russian athlete Yana Sizikova became a figurant of the scandal at the French Open in tennis.
The police detained her on suspicion of sports corruption and organized fraud - it is assumed that the tennis player participated in the match fixing at Roland Garros last year.
Sizikova, the 101st racket of the world in doubles, was arrested on the evening of May 3.
On this day, the 26-year-old tennis player played in the first round of the doubles tournament together with compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova and lost to the Australians Storm Sanders and Isla Tomlyanovich with a score of 1: 6, 1: 6.
According to Le Parisien, after the massage, Sizikova was taken into custody by the Central Racing and Games Service of the Judicial Police, which oversees gambling and sports betting.
Her hotel room was also ransacked.
The information about the detention of the tennis player was confirmed at the Russian Embassy in France.
Press Secretary Alexander Makogonov told RIA Novosti that the diplomatic mission will take the necessary steps to protect the athlete.
“The embassy is aware of the arrest of the Russian tennis player Yana Sizikova, who is participating in the Rolland Garros tournament.
We are in contact with the French authorities and the family of the detainee, ”Makogonov said.
On Friday, Sizikova was released from custody, but the investigation into her continues.
The scandal around Sizikova has been going on since last year's Roland Garros.
In September 2020, she also took part in the women's doubles tournament along with American Madison Brengle.
In the first round, they played against the Romanians Cristina-Andrea Mitu and Patricia Maria Tsig.
The duo from Russia and the United States lost the first set in a tie-break, and then lost 4: 6 in the second, ending their performance in the tournament.
Soon, information appeared in the media that before the fifth game of the second game, there was a wave of bets on the fact that Sizikova and Brengal would concede on their serve.
They really lost that game dry.
The Russian woman made two double mistakes and played one of the rallies strangely - the tennis player sat down on the court after hitting, and then could not hit the ball that returned to her.
Brengle lost another point.
According to the German publication Welt, several hundred thousand euros were bet on the fact that the fifth game would be lost.
As a result, the French prosecutor's office and the Tennis Anti-Corruption Service (TIU) became interested in this case.
Sizikova herself did not comment on her suspicions in any way and continued to perform at the tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).
In 2021, before returning to Roland Garros, she already came to France three times to participate in various competitions.
After the arrest of Sizikova, her lawyer Frederic Belo said that the athlete denied all suspicions about her.
He also noted that the Paris prosecutor's office has not yet brought forward formal charges.
“She didn’t want to take a lawyer during the arrest, because she considers herself completely innocent.
But as soon as she leaves, she will file a complaint for defamation.
Because all this is absolute slander, she is absolutely innocent.
She has nothing to do with falsification of games ... Last year, when Yana came across some rumors on the Internet from an Italian blogger who spoke about falsified matches, about money bets made, she immediately turned to the WTA.
She had a meeting at the WTA, she explained what exactly happened, what worried her.
The WTA said it would investigate, ”Belo said.
According to the lawyer, since then Sizikova has not received any instructions from the organization.
It came as a shock to the athlete that the police decided to detain her during the Roland Garros.
The Russian Tennis Federation said that they do not yet have official information about the detention of Sizikova. The president of the organization, Shamil Tarpishchev, promised to protect the athlete when he can get acquainted with the documents on her case.
“I don't know why Yana was detained. Measures are taken after receiving the papers. Before that, no measures can be taken, since there are different anti-corruption structures that deal with match-fixing. Until there are no papers, nothing can be done. Behind Sizikova there is a train from the past of Roland Garros. Now everything will be checked by the prosecutor's office. Now we cannot interfere in anything. My position is to protect my own people after the documents appear. There are prerequisites for her detention. Some of the players said that she played match fixing. These people are being tapped, their phones are being taken away. After receiving the papers, we will, of course, defend Yana, "Sport-Express quotes Tarpishchev.
In addition to the trial in France, Sizikova is also facing sports sanctions from the TIU. This organization can punish athletes for participating in match fixing with a fine of up to $ 250 thousand and life disqualification. It is worth noting that over her entire career, the Russian woman earned only $ 206.6 thousand.