Two footballers banned for life for match fixing

Two footballers were banned for life from stadiums and fined €32,000 for match fixing, the judge of the athletic court at Cyprus Football Association (CFA) ruled on Wednesday.

According to the judge, the two footballers were involved in match-fixing for the Coca-Cola cup match between Paek Kyrenia and Anorthosis on October 26, 2022.

CFA said that the footballers in question are Kypros Onisiforou and Ofornadu Odera Peter who belonged to the Paek Kyrenia team during this period.

This is the first time that the athletic judge of CFA imposed a penalty of life ban on football players for match-fixing.

Also, the court imposed on Paek Kyrenia a fine of €50,000 since, based on the regulations, the team is responsible for the acts and/or actions of its players.

The judge said that the criminal prosecutor filed the case based on findings in a report by the sports ethics committee on May 23, 2023.

The decision of the judge was based on the content of the conclusion as well as the content of the report sent to CFA by the relevant Uefa department.

“The Uefa report is once again very clear about the way in which the match was manipulated, while the report about specific footballers who were proven to have participated in the manipulation of the match, should be of concern to all the bodies involved,” the decision stated.

The content of the conclusion of the sports ethics committee as well as the Uefa report on the match in question is the subject of an ongoing police investigation.