Handball star Karabatic illegal betting

France faced calls on Tuesday to crack down on sports betting, as the world’s biggest handball star was charged with fraud in a high-profile match-fixing probe. France’s double Olympic and world handball champion Nikola Karabatic of the Montpellier club, and three other professional players, were among 11 people charged after suspicious betting patterns at one of the club’s matches last May. Among those also under the spotlight was Karabatic’s brother, Luka, and their girlfriends. Neither of the brothers played in the match under investigation and Montpellier had already won the league. Nikola Karabatic, arguably the indoor sport’s most recognisable star, was “charged with fraud”, according to one of his lawyers, Jean-Marc Phung. He was released on bail, the amount of which was not revealed, and was barred from meeting any club officials or anyone else involved in the case, tantamount to “being made unemployed”, Phung said. “Did I bet? No, I didn’t bet,” Karabatic told examining magistrates, according to another of his legal team Eric Dupont-Moretti.