UEFA give club 10-year ban as player banned FOR LIFE for match fixing

Montenegro outfit FK Arsenal Tivat have been banned for 10 years, with one player and one staff member banned for life following a UEFA investigation into match fixing

UEFA have handed a 10-year ban to Montenegro outfit FK Arsenal Tivat and given them a £434,000 fine over integrity issues and match-fixing allegations during a Conference League match.

The club will not be allowed to compete in any UEFA-governed tournament - including the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League - until the 2034-35 season at the very earliest.

A number of players and staff members have also been slapped with bans after the investigation.

Defender Nikola Celebic and director Ranko Krgovic have both been given life-long bans from all football-related activities and have requested that FIFA extend the ban worldwide.

Captain Cetko Manojlovic has received a ten-year ban, along with defender Radule Zivkovic, goalkeeper Dusan Puletic and official Milan Vignjevic.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Christos Psomiadis has been hit with an eight-year ban and club official Goran Janjusevic has been banned for six years.

UEFA said it had made its decisions "following an investigation and disciplinary proceedings against FK Arsenal Tivat and other individuals in relation to alleged violations of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) during the 2023/24 UEFA Conference League matches between Alashkert FC and FK Arsenal Tivat in July 2023".

FK Arsenal Tivat and Armenian side Alashkert played each other in a two legged first qualifying round of the 2023-24 Conference League.

The two teams drew the first game 1-1 in Armenia on July 13 after Julian Montenegro's first half strike was cancelled out by Vitali Ustinov.

But a week later there was a vastly different scoreline as Alashkert romped to a 6-1 thrashing of Tivat, sealing a 7-2 aggregate win.

Agdon Menezes had scored a hat-trick to give Alashkert the advantage, before Boban Dordevic pulled one back to make it 3-1 on the night.

Yeison Bossa Racines then made it four before Serob Grigoryan and Annan Mensah made it a demolition job with a strike each in stoppage time.