Five players and three team
officials from a Malaysian lower league soccer club have been handed
life bans after being found guilty of match-fixing, local media
reported.
The eight who represented Kuala Lumpur were also
fined 20,000 Malaysian Ringgit ($6,100) by the Football Association of
Malaysia (FAM) who will hold a disciplinary hearing on Friday for seven
more players from the club, the Malaysia Star reported.
The paper did not say which games had been fixed. The three-times Malaysia Cup winners have suffered back-to-back relegations from the top-flight and will compete in the third tier next year.
The paper said coach Stanislav Lieskovsky, assistant manager Rosli Omar
and kitman Shaari Jani were the officials disciplined with the Slovak
manager having already returned home to Europe in July.
The five Malaysian players named were 29-year-old defender Jeremy
Danker, 28-year-old right back Hafizi Roslee, 26-year-old centreback
Fadhulah Yunsiar, 31-year-old midfielder Khairul Anuar and 22-year-old
goalkeeper Phoo Kai Lun.
The paper did not say which games had been fixed. The three-times Malaysia Cup winners have suffered back-to-back relegations from the top-flight and will compete in the third tier next year.
Hafizi
had been charged by the FAM disciplinary committee in September and
suspended for six months after 'failing to play to a level that is
considered satisfactory' in a 5-0 league loss to Sime Darby in May.
He was the first player to be charged under the unsporting behaviour
law by the FAM after he was adjudged to have acted unprofessionally by
'giving' the ball to an opponent.
Banners with the words 'Bookie detected' were seen at the match which was investigated by local police..
Malaysia, like much of Southeast Asia, has fought a long battle with
match-fixing in sport with poorly paid players and officials routinely
punished for wrongdoing.
The
FAM said last month they were considering employing Sportradar, the
Swiss-based supplier of sports and betting-related data, to help detect
rigging in top-flight matches.
Sportsradar were employed by the Asian Football Confederation to
monitor their matches last month after proving instrumental in
unearthing a match-fixing syndicate in Australia, which led to four
players and one official being banned by world governing body FIFA.
Kuala Lumpur FA (KLFA) president Astaman Abdul Aziz said he hoped all
stakeholders in Malaysian football would continue to strive to clean up
the local game.
"We will
provide any form of assistance to the relevant authorities to fight
corruption. We want the game to be clear of this disease," said Astaman.
