FIFA extends sanctions for match manipulation to have worldwide effect

FIFA can today confirm the extension of sanctions imposed on three players relating to match-manipulation investigations conducted by the Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU) and the El Salvador Football Association to have worldwide effect.

–        The player Serhiy Lashchenkov of Moldova has been banned from all football-related activity for a period of five years following domestic match-manipulation investigations relating to the Metalist Kharkiv v. Karpaty Lviv match during the 2007/08 season of the championship of Ukraine. Following the decisions rendered by the disciplinary and appeal bodies of the FFU, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided on 2 August 2013 to dismiss the appeal lodged by the player and to confirm the decision issued by the Appellate Committee of the FFU on 19 October 2010 in the parts relating to the player, which included the five-year ban. The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has extended the sanction to have worldwide effect in accordance with article 78 paragraph 1(c) and article 136ff of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

–        Following the worldwide extension of sanctions imposed on 19 El Salvador players last month, the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend sanctions imposed on two additional El Salvador players. The players received a six-month ban and a five-year ban respectively from all football-related activity. The Disciplinary Committee of the El Salvador FA decided to impose the sanctions on 18 October 2013 after investigations conducted by the El Salvador FA into incidents of match manipulation that occurred in international matches, including friendlies and CONCACAF Gold Cup matches, of the El Salvador national “A” team in 2010, as well as matches involving the El Salvador U-20 national team. The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend the sanctions to have worldwide effect in accordance with article 78 paragraph 1(c) and article 136ff of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

The decisions by the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee in relation to the above cases were duly notified to the respective confederations and member associations today.

FIFA continues to work closely with its member associations and the confederations to tackle match manipulation. As part of a ten-year programme of collaboration with INTERPOL, regional workshops involving key stakeholders are being held all over the world while recently launched e-learning programmes are also helping to educate players, coaches and referees on the dangers of match manipulation to help them to avoid becoming victims of this threat to football integrity. 

Other initiatives include the signing of an integrity declaration by officials, the monitoring of the betting market via FIFA’s subsidiary Early Warning System (EWS) and the setting up of an e-learning ethics tool, an integrity hotline and e-mail address and a confidential reporting system.