French players suspended over behavior at Olympics

News Hour:

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has provisionally suspended Benoit Paire, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia for “damaging” the organization’s image by their behavior at this month’s Rio Olympics, reports Reuters.

“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.

Tennis - Women's Singles Second Round

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 colored 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.

Tennis - Men's Singles Second Round

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.

Mridha Shihab Mahmud is a writer, content editor and photojournalist. He works as a staff reporter at News Hour. He is also involved in humanitarian works through a trust called Safety Assistance For Emergencies (SAFE). Mridha also works as film director. His passion is photography. He is the chief respondent person in Mymensingh Film & Photography Society. Besides professional attachment, he loves graphics designing, painting, digital art and social networking.
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