Egyptian Olympic wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed arrested in Paris over alleged sexual assault

Egyptian Olympic wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed was arrested on Friday in Paris for alleged sexual assault charges. He will be investigated by Egypt’s Olympic committee, the Associated Press reports.

El-Sayed, who won a bronze medal during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was detained after allegedly groping a woman from behind outside of a local cafe. He was then arrested for the groping incident, per a Paris prosecutor’s statement that was obtained by AP.

Disciplinary measures for the Egyptian wrestler could include a ban from international and domestic competitions. The “irresponsible behavior,” occurred after El-Sayed concluded his Olympic duties on the mat in Paris.

The five-time African champion lost his only match at the Paris 2024 Olympics. It was a 9-0 loss to Azerbaijan’s Hasrat Jafarov on Wednesday at the 67 kilogram weight class in the Greco-Roman category. Ironically, Jafarov would go on to win the bronze medal this time around.

He was scheduled to travel home shortly after the incident.

El-Sayed released from police custody, has charges against him dropped

Charges against Egyptian Olympic wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed have been dropped after he was arrested on Friday for alleged sexual assault charges.

The Paris prosecutor’s office, who has never specifically named El-Sayed in this incident, said that El-Sayed “has been lifted and all proceedings (against him) have been terminated without further action because the offence is insufficiently serious.”

The Egyptian Committee, who were going to investigate the matter, said that their investigation has concluded. He was expected to face disciplinary measures, which could have included a ban from international and domestic competitions. This would have included a disciplinary hearing in front of the committee.

The committee’s decision was made after CCTV video footage was made available to them.

El-Sayed, 26, won his first African Championship in 2016 at the age of 18 at 66 kg, solidifying himself as a major player in his weight class on the eastern hemisphere. He would win gold at four more African Championship events at the 67 kg division from 2018-2023, including three-straight from 2018-2020.

He was put on a global stage for the first time in 2018 wrestling 67 kg at the 2018 Bucharest World U23 Championships — and won gold in the event. He would do the same in the 2019 Budapest Worlds. At 26, his Olympic dreams may not have came true during the 2024 Paris Olympics — but he has a solid foundation to build on based on his success in 2020.