August 2 – The Asian Football Confederation has banned four players for life for attempting to fix matches in the AFC Cup in 2017 and 2018.
All of them are from central Asia, three from Kyrgyzstan and one from Tajikistan, and all were found guilty “of being involved in a conspiracy to manipulate match(es)” involving their clubs.
Kyrgyz national Kursanbek Sheratov was found guilty of being involved in a conspiracy to manipulate a match involving his club Dordoi FC in the 2017 season of the AFC Cup. He was also found guilty of supporting betting activity in connection with the match.
Kyrgyz players Iliaz Alimov and Abduaziz Mahkamov conspired to fix matches involving their club FC Alay in the 2017 “and/or 2018 season of the AFC Cup,” while a third player from the Kyrgyz club Alay, Tajik national Abduaziz Mahkamov, was also guilty of fixing matches in the 2017 and 2018 AFC Cups.
The annual Asian Football Cup is the continent’s second-tier club competition for emerging nations behind the Asian Champions League.
The AFC is doing its best to weed out corruption and earlier this month six people, including a former referee and members of Indonesia’s national soccer association, were given jail sentences in connection with a 2018 game in the nation’s third-tier league.
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