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Louise Thomas

Editor

French police arrested an Egyptian Olympic wrestler on suspicion of sexual assault in the early hours of Friday outside a cafe he had visited in the French capital, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The wrestler was arrested for allegedly touching the buttocks of another customer at the cafe, prosecutors said in a statement, adding that an investigation had been opened.

Police did not release the wrestler’s name but the Egyptian delegation confirmed the wrestler’s identity as Mohamed Elsayed, who won bronze in the Tokyo Games but lost in Paris in early stages.

He was defeated by Azerbaijan’s Hasrat Jafarov in the 67 kg Greco-Roman wrestling category on Wednesday. His opponent went on to win the bronze medal.

Egypt’s Olympic Committee said Elsayed would face a disciplinary hearing. If the allegations were confirmed to be true, he could face sanctions that could go as far as life exclusion from competition, the committee said in a statement.

Elsayed had been given permission to watch the final wrestling match for his weight category but then failed to return to the mission headquarters and turned off his phone, the statement said.

French newspaper Le Parisien said he was “roaring drunk”, and he is said to have been in custody at the 13th arrondissement police station.

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