A decision on possible sanctions for the French water polo team could come at the end of May ©Getty Images

A decision on possible sanctions for the French water polo team accused of throwing their match with Canada at the Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament to help secure a place at Rio 2016 is expected next month. 

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) launched an investigation into the matter after David Hart, a former member of Canada's water polo team, contacted them and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about the incident.

Hart started an online petition demanding France be punished after they succumbed to a 13-5 defeat at the hands of Canada on April 7 at the tournament in Trieste in Italy. 

It ensured they progressed to the semi-finals via a more favourable route at the tournament 

They eventually finished fourth in the tournament, winning the final qualifying spot for this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after beating The Netherlands 4-3 on penalties.

Hart described the issue as “horrific” and "quite clear".

Canada had to face former Olympic champions Spain in the quarter-finals - the team France wanted to avoid - and lost 8-7.

The defeat ended the North American nation’s chances of reaching the tournament at Rio 2016.

FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu, speaking at the SportAccord Convention here, admitted he has “never seen something like that” and suggested the qualification place may be offered to the Dutch team if France are disqualified.

France have been accused of deliberately losing to Canada in order to earn a more favourable draw
France were accused of deliberately losing to Canada in order to earn a more favourable draw ©Getty Images

“We will probably get a decision no later than the end of May because we need to go through the process,” he said.

“Normally for the next place you would take the ranking which would be the team who placed number five.

“I have never heard about something like that but we have to look at it in the proper way.

“In tournaments like that when you play seven games every game is important.

“A team can have a good day and a team can have a bad day.

“We’ve never been put in a situation like this.”

The petition started by Hart, who also wrote to the IOC Integrity and Compliance hotline, set up to report suspicious approaches or activities related to competition manipulation, now has 2,245 signatures, surpassing original target set at 2,000.

“The solution to this immediate problem is for FINA to confirm and sanction the team responsible, to find a suitable replacement for their spot in Rio [2016],” he wrote.

FINA’s website only fuelled the concerns over suspected match-fixing reporting France were not bothered about winning the game.