Scandal hits another Olympic sport in France — handball

By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The head of France’s professional handball league has resigned after pleading guilty to child corruption and child pornography charges. It’s the country’s latest sports scandal before it hosts next year’s Paris Olympics. In a plea deal reached with prosecutors, Bruno Martini was handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence. The president of the National Handball League also was fined 2,500 euros (US$2,700) and barred from working in professions that come in contact with children for five years. The National Handball League subsequently announced that the 52-year-old Martini resigned as president with immediate effect. Martini is the latest leader of an Olympic sport in France to become embroiled in scandal ahead of the 2024 Games, which open in Paris in just under 550 days.