Egyptian Olympic wrestler not charged, released from police custody

PARIS -- An Egyptian Olympic wrestler arrested in Paris on sexual assault charges has been released from police custody with all charges dropped, French prosecutors said Saturday.

Tokyo bronze medal-winning wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim el-Sayed was arrested early Friday after allegedly groping a woman from behind outside a Paris café.

A statement from the Paris prosecutor's office said Saturday that the police custody order for a 26-year-old Olympic wrestler from Egypt, who was not named, "has been lifted and all proceedings [against him] have been terminated without further action because the offence is insufficiently serious."

The Egyptian Olympic Committee said in a statement Saturday that the investigation into sexual harassment allegations against el-Sayed has been shelved. It said the wrestler's release came after reviewing CCTV video of the alleged incident.

El-Sayed is a Greco-Roman wrestler who competes at 67 kilograms. He wrestled in one match in Paris, a 9-0 loss to Azerbaijan's Hasrat Jafarov, on Wednesday. He is a five-time African champion and a two-time under-23 world champion.