Police detain French Olympic champ in handball betting probe

PARIS (AFP) - French police detained double Olympic gold medal winner Nikola Karabatic and several other players on Sunday in connection with allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting in French handball.

At least seven players in the French league were placed under formal arrest, a source close to the investigation told AFP without specifying the players concerned.

A police source said eight players for Montpellier, including Karabatic and his brother Luka, two players for Paris Saint-Germain formerly with Montpellier, a member of staff for Montpellier and a player's girlfriend had been detained for questioning in the probe.

Five of the Montpellier players, including Nikola Karabatic, Tunisian Wissem Hmam, Frenchman Mickael Robin, and Slovenians Dragan Gajic and Primoz Prost, were put into police cars and driven away in a convoy, an AFP journalist at the scene said.