July 1 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has banned two Thai referees for life for involvement in match-fixing following a meeting of its disciplinary committee.
Thanom Borikut and Chaiya Mahapab were both found guilty of influencing the results of four matches each in a manner contrary to sporting ethics.
The violations of Borikut related to four matches played in the 2013 and 2014 calendar year. The violations of Mahapab related to four matches played in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The two officials are banned from all football-related activities for life. The AFC has asked FIFA to extend the bans on a worldwide basis. In order to not prejudice other open investigations, the matches are not being identified at the present time.
In an unrelated decision, the Disciplinary Committee fined the Saudi Arabian Football Federation $150,000 for wrongly granting licences to two Saudi clubs Al Ahli (KSA) and Al Nassr (KSA) to participate in the 2015 AFC Champions League. Two-thirds of the fine is suspended for a probationary period of two years, taking into account the significant remedial measures that have been put into place since the commencement of the AFC investigation in 2015, a statement said.
The AFC says both clubs had overdue payables owed to football creditors which did not qualify for any of the exceptions required in order to be granted a licence.
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