- He is said to have been arrested by police while drunk on the motorway in Paris.
- A woman informed the Egyptian Olympic team of the facts and filed a complaint
- Mohamed Elsayed, 26, allegedly put his hands on a woman’s buttocks outside a cafe
French police arrested an Egyptian wrestler competing in the Olympics on Friday morning for allegedly groping a woman in a bar, prosecutors said.
Authorities arrested Mohamed Elsayed, 26, outside a cafe in the French capital’s 13th arrondissement at around 5 a.m. after he was accused of “placing a hand on the buttocks of a female customer,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
Elsayed, who won bronze at the Tokyo Games, lost on Wednesday to Azerbaijan’s Hasrat Jafarov in the 67kg Greco-Roman wrestling. His opponent won the bronze medal.
An Egyptian compatriot with the same name won a bronze medal in épée fencing at the Paris Olympics.
It was not immediately clear whether the fighter had since been released.
The man has since been identified as Mohamed Elsayed, who competed at the Games on Thursday.
The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning during the Paris Olympics.
French newspaper Le Parisien said he was “completely drunk” and was being held at the 13th arrondissement police station.
Egypt, which has only one medal to its name at the Paris Games so far (in fencing), has reportedly informed its athletes that one of their teammates has been arrested in France.
He is said to have been arrested on the highway.
It is not the first report of sexual assault surrounding the Games; the father of Croatian judo gold medallist Barbara Matic has also reportedly been arrested in Paris for allegedly sexually assaulting a volunteer.
Matic shined as she won gold in the women’s 70kg judo category on Wednesday and was in high spirits amid the celebrations after her incredible win over German Olympic debutant Miriam Butkereit.
Their surprise victory was Croatia’s first gold medal at the Paris Olympics, but it was later overshadowed after a volunteer in charge of seating spectators filed a complaint with police about the actions of Matic’s father.
Police investigating the alleged sexual assault arrested the father last Thursday, where he was questioned about the facts related to the complainants’ complaint, according to a report BFM Television.
He is said to have been arrested in the early hours of Friday after being accused of putting his hands on a woman’s buttocks.
Olympic gold medalist Miriam Butkereit’s father has also reportedly been arrested following an allegation of sexual assault.
The Olympic gold medallist’s father is alleged to have forcibly kissed the volunteer after Matic’s quarter-final victory left her within touching distance of a podium spot.
The 24-year-old volunteer was working at the Champs-de-Mars Arena site and says she tried to reject the judo star’s father’s proposal.
They then decided to report the incident to the police, where it was reported that “the father of a champion forced a kiss on her mouth after an Olympic event,” according to a BFM source.
According to Le Parisien, the investigation has been closed and dismissed.