France's Karabatic to face trial in match-fixing case

TOULOUSE (Reuters) - French handball champion Nikola Karabatic will face trial in a match-fixing scandal along with 15 other people, his lawyer said on Wednesday. The case is set to go to trial by mid-year after a judge granted a prosecutors' request. Prosecutors suspect players from Montpellier, who had already won the title, deliberately lost a match against Cesson-Rennes Metropole in May 2012. Karabatic, who helped France clinch their fifth world title in February against host nation Qatar, left Montpellier in 2013. The 30-year-old, who won gold with France at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, now plays for Barcelona in the Spanish league. (Reporting by Julie Rimbert, writing by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Ken Ferris)