By Andrew Warshaw
June 19 – FIFA today extended worldwide a series of sanctions meted out to 13 individuals from South Korea and Croatia related to match-fixing.
The action, which FIFA inevitably takes following domestic investigations by the countries concerned, is in accordance with its disciplinary code, the governing body said in a statement.
“These cases prove once more that the threat of illegal betting and match-fixing is not only confined to one part of the world,” FIFA director of security Ralf Mutschke said.
“The integrity of sport, and especially football, is hugely at risk and FIFA is firmly determined to combat this threat.”
FIFA’s latest move follows on from 45 other domestic sanctions extended, this time concerning match-fixing in Turkey and Finland.
The South Korean bans all relate to K-League activity.
Sang Hong Lee and Dong Hyun Kim both received life bans; Jung Kyum Kim and Sung Kuk Choi (pictured above) got five-year bans; and Eung Jin Kim, Sung Yo Hong, Byoung Kyu Park, Yeo San Yoon, Kyung Il Sung and Jung Ho Lee all received life bans, with the possibility for a reduction of the sanction after probation.
In Croatia, at least 15 players, two coaches and one club official were involved in a match-fixing scandal in July 2010 that became the subject of criminal investigations.
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