Soccer
FIFA bans 41 players for fixing
2013-01-09 14:16
Zurich - World governing body FIFA on
Wednesday announced extended sanctions for 41 South Korean players
following a 2011 match-fixing scandal in the domestic league.
Korea's
K-League and the Korea Football Association's disciplinary committees
agreed the sanctions and now FIFA's Disciplinary Committee has extended
them worldwide.
Another 21 players who admitted their part in the
match-fixing affair and also recanted will be allowed to return to the
game after after a probation period of between two and five years.
But they will have to do football-related community service first, including coaching youngsters and disabled players.
The
match-fixing scandal erupted in 2011 when some 50 players and coaches
from six K-League sides were charged along with 11 criminal gang members
and bookmakers with taking money to rig 15 games during 2010.
The scandal has led to two players and a former coach taking their own lives
In
April of last year, former Suwon Samsung Bluewings midfielder Lee
Kyung-Hwan, 24, killed himself while in May, Jeong Jong-Kwan, a
29-year-old midfielder with a third-division outfit, also committed
suiceide as did Lee Soo-Cheol, a former coach of the military football
club, found dead last October.
FIFA has extended the match-fixing sanctions on 41 players in South Korea to worldwide life bans.
The scandal goes back to 2011 when more than 50 players and coaches in the K-League were indicted for accepting money to fix matches.
Forty-one players received life bans from the K-League and the Korea Football Association.
FIFA said Wednesday that its disciplinary committee extended the sanctions to have worldwide effect.
However, FIFA said it would offer 21 players who admitted involvement in the scandal a chance to return to football.
Those players must go through a probation period of between two and five years, including community service ranging from 200 to 500 hours. Reinstatement after the probation would be up to the Korea Football Association.