The fallout from the French Olympic tennis team has reached a new high after the national Tennis Federation (FTT) confirmed that they provisionally suspended three of their players.
Benoit Paire, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia have all been suspended for alleged misconduct conducted during the Olympic Games in Rio. In a statement, the FTT has stated that all three of the players ‘have violated the federal institution and damaged the image of tennis.’
The moves come after a series of high profile public criticisms of the French team by those players. World No.34 Paire was sent home from the Olympic Games for breaking the rules. In an interview with L’equipe, the technical director of French tennis, Arnaud Di Pasquale, accused the 27-year-old of showing ‘a lack of respect’.
Meanwhile Mladenovic and Garcia recently expressed their frustration with the FTT at the Olympics on social media. Shortly before their first round match in the women’s doubles, the duo found out that they were required to wear identical outfits or risk the prospect of being disqualified. Fortunately Mladenovic had a spare set of clothes that she gave to Garcia. After being knocked out of the first round by Japanese players Misaki Doi and Eri Hozumi, Mladenovic has lashed out at the organization for their lack of communication and attributed it to their shock loss.
“Thanks to our federation, so incompetent, to have ruined a sporting moment so important in the careers of Caroline Garcia and me,” Mladenovic wrote on Twitter.
“…This incident off court cost a lot of energy, and unfortunately our tennis was not high and we could not succeed.”
Garcia wrote a similar statement on her Twitter account as well.
— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) 7 August 2016
The penalties issued to the trio of players were decided on Saturday following a meeting attended by members of the FFT. In a brief statement uploaded to their official website, the organisation has branded the behaviour of the players as ‘unacceptable’.
“(We) believe that the unacceptable attitude of these players deserves an appropriate response.” They said in a statement.
The surprise decision has caused apprehension for the French Fed Cup team. Both Garcia and Mladenovic are pivotal members of the team. They are the only French players to record wins in the world group this season and have guided their country to the Final, where they will play the Czech Republic in November. Together they have won four doubles titles on the WTA Tour so far this year.
A final decision regarding the player’s suspension will be made on September 24th. Until then they are banned for selection for any team events and will receive no financial support from the FTT.
There is yet to be a response from any of the three players.
