French tennis player Alice Tubello filed a complaint on Friday, September 6, in Paris for cyber harassment after receiving more than 300 hate messages from sports bettors following a defeat in Peru in August, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned on Saturday from a source close to the matter. Her complaint, which AFP learned of, also concerned identity theft: she was accused of a fake Facebook page, now closed, which portrayed her father as a child abuser.
the 219my The 23-year-old world player took part in the tennis tournament in Arequipa, Peru, in August, where she lost to Peruvian Dana Guzmán. This defeat triggered a wave of hatred towards her from sports bettors, which she first denounced on her social networks and then in her complaint, filed by her lawyers Robin Binsard and Julien Desmolin with the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Contacted by AFP, she criticized “Recurring abuses with sports betting, sponsors of the world tennis organization”. “Whether it’s a win or a loss, every time a match ends I get hate messages”testified. “I have even had punters who came behind the fence of my field”confess. “Security has increased at tournaments, but there is still this phenomenon of online abuse under the guise of anonymity. »
The content of the fake Facebook page, fueled by posts presenting his father as “a pedophile” or racist messages, are particularly harmful to the player. “They touched my family, I will not let them go”he said, hoping that investigators will be able to identify and arrest the perpetrators.
US Open semi-finalist and 2022 Masters winner Caroline Garcia also reported hate messages directed at her on social media in late August: “I hope your mother dies”, “You should think about suicide”… “I am worried about the young players who come in and have to deal with these kinds of things”He spoke about this phenomenon, which is already well-known in the world of sport and, in particular, in tennis. “Tournaments continue to partner with sports betting companies that continue to drive people into gambling addiction. (…). We continue to promote these companies that destroy the lives of certain people”protested.
