Wrestler Mohamed ‘Kesho’ Elsayed released from custody in Paris after physical harassment accusation

Wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed, known as Kesho, was acquitted by French authorities on Saturday after a woman accused him of physically harassing her outside a Paris bar, according to a statement released by the Egyptian Olympic Committee on Saturday evening.

Investigations into the harassment charge were closed, said the statement, and the wrestler will instead be investigated by the EOC’s values committee for failing to return on time to the Olympic village.

Elsayed was released by police and headed to Charles de Gaulle International Airport on Saturday in preparation to return to Cairo, the body added.

Elsayed, who won a bronze medal in the 2021 games in Tokyo in the 67 kg Greco-Roman wrestling category, lost his Wednesday fixture in the Paris games against opponent Hasrat Jafarov, representing Azerbaijan. The wrestler was given permission to leave the Olympic village to attend the Thursday evening finals event for his weight category but did not return after the event finished and his phone was switched off, according to the committee.

Elsayed was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning, Le Parisien reported, when police intervened in a fight outside a bar in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. They took the Egyptian wrestler, whom the outlet described as “heavily intoxicated,” into custody after a woman accused him of physically harassing her inside the bar earlier in the night.

The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed to the press on Friday that Elsayed was "accused of having placed a hand on the buttocks of another customer."

Egypt’s Olympic Committee’s initial statement said that the claim was being investigated and could lead to the maximum sanction of Elsayed’s permanent suspension from participating in national and international competitions. The head of the Egyptian delegation in Paris was also tasked with investigating the athlete’s disappearance from the Olympic village, the committee said.

Yet Elsayed’s release due to a lack of evidence was announced by the committee on Saturday evening, with the French prosecutor confirming to international media that police custody was lifted and the case closed due to “the offense being insufficiently characterized.”

Egypt’s committee claimed that footage from cameras at the site of the incident was reviewed but did not provide evidence to confirm the harassment claim.

The Paris Olympics are due to close on Sunday evening at the Stade de France. Egypt’s delegation will be taking home at least three medals. Malak Ismail was set to battle for a spot on the podium in the women’s modern pentathlon finals on Sunday, the day after her teammate Ahmed ElGendy set a world record to win gold for the men.

Sara Ahmed Samir took silver in the 81 kg weightlifting, adding to the bronze she secured at the 2016 games in Rio and gold at the 2022 world championships.

Mohamed al-Sayed won bronze for Egypt in épée fencing at the end of July.