Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

French tennis fededation provisionally ban players

August 28, 2016 19:06 IST

Kristina Mladenovic of France

IMAGE: Kristina Mladenovic of France is suspended over behaviour at Olympics. Photograph: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has provisionally suspended Benoit Paire, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia for ‘damaging’ the organisation's image by their behaviour at this month's Rio Olympics.

"Following the Rio Olympics, the Committee of the French Tennis Federation met at length about the case of the players who violated the federation and damaged the image of tennis," the FFT said in a statement.

Paire, seeded 16th at the Games, lost to Fabio Fognini of Italy in the second round. The 27-year-old was kicked out of his country's Olympic team for spending too much time away from the athletes' village, local media reported.

Mladenovic and Garcia were suspended for "strongly criticising" the FFT following a mix-up over their clothing.

They said they had not been told to wear the same coloured kit for the women's doubles event in Rio and had to change shortly before their first-round loss to Japan's Misaki Doi and Eri Hozumi.

The pair won the French Open women's doubles title in June and are key players in the country's Fed Cup team which has reached this year's final against the Czech Republic in November.

The three players, who the FFT said showed an "unacceptable attitude", will not be selected to represent their country pending a final decision on Sept. 24.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.