KUALA LUMPUR, February 5, 2012 (AFP) - Malaysia's football governing body has suspended 18 youth players and banned a coach for life for fixing matches, the latest development in a widening scandal, an official said Sunday.
The players from three clubs were suspended for between two and five years by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for fixing matches in the national under-20 President's Cup last year.
A coach for central Negeri Sembilan state, who was already charged last year for bribing players to fix matches, was also banned for life.
The bans, which were announced Saturday, mean players can no longer take part in any official football-related activity.
"This proves that FAM is serious about tackling the scourge," FAM deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was quoted by the Star daily as saying.
"I hope the punishment meted out will serve as a lesson to all football players and officials in the country. I hope that match fixing will not rear its ugly head in Malaysian football again," he added.
A FAM official confirmed the comments to AFP Sunday.
Last year, three people, including the coach and a Singaporean bookmaker, were charged in court with bribing players with up to 7,000 ringgit ($2,300) to fix matches during the President's Cup last year and in 2010.
In a separate case, Malaysian authorities are probing nine players for northern Perlis state over a January game in the Malaysian Super League, a premier league tournament.
They reportedly admitted to having contact with a bookmaker who offered them up to 100,000 ringgit each for losing the game. One player has been suspended.
The match-fixing probe is a fresh blow to Malaysian football, which has struggled to recover from a 1994 scandal that saw 21 players and coaches sacked, 58 players suspended and 126 players questioned over corruption.
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